Our Love is What Connects us
by JellyBeanBubbles
Summary: He was born to be a King, but when tragedy struck he ran away in guilt. Now 10 years later he is reunited with his childhood friend and she begs him to help save his dying kingdom. Will he go back home to help the girl he loves, or will his guilt hold him back? [Based on Disneys' 'The Lion King] Strictly a NaLu fic. This is a MUST READ :D
1. A Prince is Born

**[A/N: This story is based off Disney's The Lion King]**

**[Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or The Lion King, I just own this story]**

**CHAPTER 1: A PRINCE IS BORN**

The entire Kingdom of Magnolia was in celebration, the citizens were all waiting patiently outside King Igneel's palace, for his wife; Grandine, had just given birth to their first son and the kingdoms first heir. They were all there in the hopes of catching a glimpse of the new crowned prince when he was to be presented to the public. The kings' head of security was waiting patiently in the balcony with his 4-year-old grand-daughter; Erza, it was going to be her job to protect and watch over the young prince should he ever get into trouble, and knowing that he was Igneel's son, this kid would defiantly get into trouble.

"Grandpa, can't we spar while we wait? This is boring" said Erza, she had her arms crossed over her chest and was pouting, she was itching to play with her wooden sword that was attached to her waist. **[A/N: Coz there's no way in hell I'm letting a 4-year-old hold a real sword, even if it is Erza]**

Her grandpa just looked at her and smiled "Be patient child, once the prince has been presented we can spar for as long as you like" said the old man, Erza just huffed in annoyance

"Man, this kid is gonna be trouble for me when he's older, I can just feel it" said Erza. Her grandpa just chuckled and nodded his head, agreeing with her.

* * *

Igneel and Grandine were waiting for their doctor and oldest friend to arrive, he was to check their sons' health, baptize him by giving him the mark of their kingdom; which was a symbol of a fairy with a tail on it, and since they had named him the god-parent as well, they also gave him the honour of presenting their son to the people. Grandine was in their bedroom, holding her sleeping child in her arms while looking out her window to see the people, while Igneel was outside their room leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, waiting for his friend (who was late) to arrive.

"Ah there you are Igneel! Sorry for being late, I got lost for a while back there, hehehe" said a small old man with grey hair and a moustache, he was grinning sheepishly while scratching the back of his head as he made his way to Igneel.

"Seriously Makarov!? What do you mean you got lost!? You've been here at least a dozen times!" yelled Igneel _'Geez, what am I gonna do with you Makarov'_ thought Igneel.

"Hahahaha, well that's true but the hallways still all look the same to me, hahaha!" said Makarov.

Igneel just let out a sigh, and laughed along with his friend. He knelt down to give his friend a hearty hug and was grinning ear to ear.

"It's been too long old friend, how are you doing?" said Igneel

"Well lets see, I'm old and crabby with a bad back, and just recently I was asked to travel to some palace to check up on some brat and then show him off to a bunch of random strangers…"

"Hahahaha, so basically life's been pretty good!" said Makarov.

He and Igneel then exchanged glances and continued to laugh wholeheartedly to each other, they then got up and made their way to Igneel's bedroom.

"It's good to see you haven't changed old friend, you'll love my son, and he looks just like me!" exclaimed Igneel, he had a proud look on his face and the biggest grin ever.

* * *

They entered the bedroom and made their way towards Grandine, who was still holding her son who was still sleeping away. When she saw them both approaching she smiled a smile of pure joy. Igneel came up to his wife and child and gave them both a kiss on the forehead, he was so happy right now that his grin couldn't get any bigger, he had been blessed with a beautiful wife who he loved dearly and now they shared a son. He pulled them in for a hug.

"Well I'll be damned, you were right Igneel! The brat does look like you, his hair is a shed lighter though" exclaimed Makarov as he saw the child.

"Hahahaha, I know right, isn't he adorable!?" said Igneel while still holding his wife.

"Ssshh! Not so loud dear, he'll start screaming" said Grandine, her child had a little too much energy as it is, and she was not about to wake him up after she finally got him to sleep "But you're right though, he does look just like you" she said with a smile.

"May I?" asked Makarov as he gestured to Grandine that he would like to hold the child.

Grandine bent down and let Makarov hold her son, he was going to begin examining him to check his health and his magical power, and then later he would give him the mark of their kingdom as a blessing. They were now both observing Makarov and waiting for his verdict on their son.

"Hmmmm, I sense a great magical power inside of him, and he has perfect health too. Great job you two, you've given birth to quite a powerful kid" said Makarov with a smile.

Igneel and Grandine were holding each other and looking at their son with eyes filled with pride.

"I can't say for certain but it looks like he may have inherited your power Igneel, but we'll only know for certain when he's about 5-years-old or so. Man this kid looks like a trouble maker already" said Makarov, sighing in exhaustion.

"Awww man, I have to wait soo long!" Igneel complained, Makarov just sweat-dropped; he knew how desperate the guy was to have his son be a fire-mage like him, but he just wasn't sure yet.

Grandine let out a small laugh "Hahaha, oh don't worry dear, I'm sure he's inherited your fire" she said

"In the meantime we'd best get him ready to be presented to the people, Makarov still has to baptize him-""- Actually I just finished that." Makarov interjected "We can head on over to the balcony now."

He had placed the kingdoms mark on the kids' right shoulder, and gave it a red colour, the same as Igneels' hair. He was starting to walk out of the room to get to the balcony, completely oblivious to the parents shocked faces.

"Eh!? So fast?!" they both exclaimed, they didn't even see it happen, they walked out behind Makarov, but Igneel noticed that he was heading in the wrong direction.

"Oi Makarov! The balcony's this way you old fart!" yelled Igneel as he stopped to wait for his friend to turn around.

Makarov stopped in his tracks, and then made a sudden u-turn, briskly walking past Igneel to try to hide his face of embarrassment.

"E-ehehehe, I-I knew that, hahaha, I was just messing around with ya, ehehe" said Makarov in a lame attempt to hide his shame.

Igneel and Grandine just sweat-dropped at their friends' antics, then followed behind him on their way to the balcony.

* * *

They had finally reached the balcony where Erza and her grandpa had been waiting for them, with Makarov still holding the prince.

"Oh Erza, I was wondering where you were, how are you young lady?" asked Makarov with a smile, he was friends with Erza's grandpa and was there when she was born, so he was like a second Grandpa to her.

"Its ok I guess, there's a lot of people down there though, and grandpa won't let me play with him until you show off the prince!" said Erza "So hurry up already!"

She was starting to throw a tantrum but stopped when her grandpa put his hand on her shoulder, she knew she had to be on her best behaviour, but was so bored that she just forgot.

"I'm sowwy**[A/N: well she is 4, she can't have a completely perfect vocabulary, even if she is Erza]**, I was being selfish" she apologized and bowed her head.

"Hahaha, don't worry about it Erza, it's mostly our fault for taking so long anyway, my bad sweety." said Igneel as he patted Erza's head to try and comfort her. She just nodded her head and stayed silent while Igneel just smiled at her _'She's quite mature for her age' _he thought.

"OK lets get this over with, your damn peoples screaming are gonna make me deaf over hear!" yelled Makarov as he made his way to the stool that was placed before the ledge of the balcony. Just then the baby woke up, but instead of screaming when he saw Makarov, he gave out a little baby laugh and started pulling on Makarovs' moustache thinking it was some kind of toy, while Makarov just let him and pulled an exhausted face _'Damn, I knew this kid would be trouble, and to think he's just a baby, who knows what he'll be like when he's older' _thought Makarov.

But just before he stepped on the stool he suddenly realized something. He stopped in his tracks and then faced the kids parents "Hey by the way, what the heck is your sons' name? I can't exactly show him to the people and then not tell them what you named him, now can I?" said Makarov.

Igneel and Grandine's eyes widened in realization, they forgot to tell Makarov his name. So Igneel walked over to Makarov and whispered it in his ear.

Upon hearing the name Makarov let out a small chuckle "Really Igneel, you and your wife sure have a thing for names don't you" he said.

Igneel then grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head and chuckled.

Makarov then made his way up the stool, holding the baby low in his arms so that not all of the people could see him, then all the people went silent, waiting for Makarov to speak.

"Ahem, I present to you your crowned prince of Magnolia, the young Prince! To commemorate his summer birth; his name has been chosen as: Natsu!" Makarov shouted as he lifted the prince for all of the people to see.

Then all the citizens began to cheer and shout out the princes' name, and he was just laughing and smiling at them, everyone was happy…

Or so it seemed…

"Damn that Igneel! If it weren't for that kid I would have been next in line!"

* * *

**Who is this man? **

**What will become of our young prince?**

**Why am I asking you all these questions? [haha, sorry, couldn't resist :P]**

* * *

**Hope you liked the first chapter, the next ones gonna be even better :D**


	2. Lessons and Fighting

**CHAPTER 2: Lessons and Fighting**

**[A/N: Wow! Cant believe what a good response im getting for this story, thanks to all my new favs and followers, here's the next chapter, enjoy :D]**

In a noble house just outside the gates of the kingdom, there is a man with black hair and red eyes. He had entered his kitchen area where the cooks had left a chicken in his cage, waiting to be turned into the mans next meal. The man opened the cage and grabbed the struggling chicken by the neck, giving it a look-over.

"Life's not fair is it?" he asked the chicken with false sympathy.

"In my case, I, can never be King, hahaha, but you… won't see the light of another day, hahaha, too bad" he laughed as he was preparing to put the chicken back into its' cage, when suddenly a new voice stopped him.

"I guess your mother forgot to tell you that you shouldn't play with your food" it was the kings head of security; Rob, he had his arms folded over his chest and had a disapproving look on his face.

The man let out a sigh "What the hell do you want?" he asked as he turned to look at him, still holding the chicken who was trying to get out of his grip.

Rob then gave a small bow and began to explain "I'm just here to inform you that King Igneel is on his way here, so you'd better use this time to think up a good excuse as to why you weren't at the presentation this morning" he said as he crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow at him.

Just then, the chicken managed to get out of the mans hand and started making its way outside, the man had just then realized that the door from the kitchen to the backyard was open, and the chicken had made its way out.

"Now look at what you did Rob, you made my lunch escape" he said in a fake sulky tone.

"Ha, if I were you, I'd escape too before the King gets here, he's as mad as he gets when his supper is late" said Rob with slight humour in his voice, he did not like this man at all, and just wanted to leave.

"Is that so, ha! It gets me all fired up just thinking about it! Hey old man, wanna be a test dummy for my flames?" he asked as he raised his hand getting ready to ignite it.

Rob then unsheathed his sword and took a ready stance; if this man wanted to start a fight, he wasn't sure he'd last long.

"Now Acnologia, don't push your luck. We both know that your flames are still unstable" he said as he began to slowly back away.

"Hahahahaha! Unstable you say?! Why don't we test it?" said Acnologia as he lit up his hand. Black flames engulfed his arm and were steadily increasing in size.

"Acnologia!"

"Hmmm?" he turned to the person who called him and saw Igneel coming up behind Rob.

"Put those flames out now" said Igneel with a scowl on his face.

"Phew, good timing Sire" said Rob as he let out a sigh of relief and put his sword back in its' sheath.

Acnologia put out his flames as Igneel made his way towards him, and had a sly smirk on his face.

"Well, well, if it isn't my big brother, coming down from his luxurious home to mingle with the common-folk" he said in a sarcastic tone as he walked around his brother.

"Grandine and I didn't see you at Natsu's presentation" said Igneel with a scowl on his face as he looked at his brother.

"Was that today?" he said feigning ignorance "Oh I feel so awful!" he then smashed his fist the kitchen table making a fist mark where he hit it. Rob just shook his head in disbelief _'Hard to believe that this is Igneels brother' _he thought.

"I guess it must have slipped my mind" said Acnologia with a smirk as he looked at the spot where he hit the table.

"Ahem, well as slippery as your mind is, you are the Kings' brother and as such you should have been there first!" Rob exclaimed, a scowl now on his face.

Acnologia was now approaching Rob, his smirk slowly dissipating as he approached him.

"Well I was first, till that little pink brat was born" he said in a low growl.

Igneel stepped in front of Rob and was looking straight at his brother, with a scowl still present on his face "That 'pink brat' is my son, and your next King" he said.

"Oh my, I guess I'd better practice bowing in his presence then" said Acnologia sarcastically as he walked past Igneel and Rob to make his way to his staircase.

"Don't make an enemy of me Acnologia" warned Igneel as he watched his brother walk up the stairs.

"Oh no Igneel, perhaps you shouldn't make an enemy of me" said Acnologia as he turned to look at Igneel.

Igneel lit his fist on fire then flung a small fire-ball in Acnologias' direction, hitting his wall as a warning. Acnologia watched as the flame dissipated and then looked down the stairs at is brother, whose face held deep anger.

"Are you trying to start a fight?!" yelled Igneel

"Tut tut tut, control your temper, I wouldn't even consider fighting with you" said Acnologia, with a bored expression on his face.

Rob gave Acnologia a questioning glare "Well that's too bad, but if I may ask, why wouldn't you?" he asked, he really wanted to watch Acnologia be put in his place by Igneel.

"Well when it comes to intelligence I believe I surpass Igneel, but when it comes to raw power…" Acnologia was continuing his walk up the stairs then showed them a look of fake hurt "…I'm afraid Igneel got the better half of that deal" then he disappeared into his room.

Rob let out a sigh "Sire, how you two are related is beyond me, was he always like this?" he asked.

"Hmmm, I don't know what to do with him anymore" said Igneel while scratching the back of his head as he made his way out the front door.

"Well you could always throw him in the dungeon, hehehe" said Rob in a joking voice.

"Hahaha, Rob!" said Igneel as he made his way inside his carriage.

"I'm just giving you suggestions" he said.

"Hahahahaha!"

* * *

On the outskirts of town we see a small house where a certain doctor lives, he had just returned from his visit to the kingdom and was writing about the day's events in his journal. He was in a good mood over the day's events and was reminiscing about them as he continued to write. As he began writing down the details of the Kings baby he chuckled to himself as he wrote the colour of the boys' hair.

"Natsu huh? I wonder what kind of King you'll turn out to be" he said.

* * *

_Seven years later…_

Natsu woke up bright and early in the morning; he was so excited for the day and couldn't wait to get started. His father had decided to show him some new techniques for his fire magic, and he was too impatient to wait any longer.

Wearing a white scale-like scarf that his father had given him for his 5th birthday and a red shirt and orange pants, he ran towards his parents bedroom and kicked the doors open. His parents were still fast asleep, so he ran up to his father and tried to wake him up by jumping on him.

"Dad! Dad! Come on dad its time to start training we gotta go!" yelled Natsu

"Uuuuh, Igneel… your sons awake" groaned Grandine as she tried to pull the covers over her head.

"Before noon he's your son" said Igneel, as he tried to ignore his sons jumping.

"Dad! Come on dad!" said Natsu as he tried to jump higher, which caused him to fall of their bed and hit the floor "Ouch" he said as he rubbed his but.

He then walked up to Igneel and punched him square in the face, it didn't hurt him but it was enough to get him to open his eye's.

"You promised dad" said Natsu, he had a pout on his face and crossed his arms over his chest.

Igneel let out a sigh upon seeing his sons face, now he was regretting making that promise, but he pulled his covers off and started to get up.

"Alright already, I'm up, just quit with the pouty face ok?" said Igneel.

"Yaaaaay!" shouted Natsu, and he began running around I circles out of excitement.

Igneel just gave out a big yawn and made his way to his closet to grab some clothes, Grandine was now also awake; she went to go check on her 2 year-old adopted daughter Wendy; who was in the other room. She was left on their door-step a year ago and Grandine fell in love with her the second their eyes met, so she decided to raise the child as her own. She wasn't officially a Princess, but she was always treated like one.

* * *

Igneel and Natsu were in their own private training area that was designed to withstand fire attacks. The place was newly built for the Prince, because last year while he and his father were sparring, he has accidentally burnt down the royal armies training area.

"Ok Natsu are you ready?" asked Igneel as he got into a ready stance.

"You bet dad, I'm all fired up!" exclaimed Natsu with a smirk as he lit up his fist.

"Now the move I'm about to teach you is a little tricky, so you have to concentrate. First, I want you to light up both your fists with a small flame." said Igneel.

Natsu lit up both his fists and made the flames the size of his hands "How's that dad?" he asked.

"Good job kiddo, now I want you to slowly increase the size of your flames, but you have to make sure that you keep both flames at the same size, keep going until you have flames the same size as you" said Igneel.

He watched as his son was gradually increasing the size of his flames, for a kid Natsu had an insane amount of talent when it came to magic, so it was necessary for him to learn how to control his flames in order to avoid any accidents.

"Dad I'm ready" said Natsu, looking at his father excitedly.

"Good, now I want you to come up to me like your attacking an enemy, and as you get closer I want you to bring your hands together and them throw your fists towards me, this move is known as 'Fire-Dragons Brilliant Flame'!" said Igneel.

Natsu did exactly as his father said and sent his attack hurdling towards his father, Igneel didn't budge instead he took the attack on with full-force, after all fire magic had no effect on him.

Natsu stood in front of his father, waiting to hear his thoughts on his attack, his eyes filled with determination while he held his hands up.

Igneel gave his son his regular grin and patted him on the head "Great job son! That was perfect!" he said as he gave Natsu a thumbs up.

Natsu's face lit up with excitement and he wore a grin almost identical to his fathers.

"Awesome! Teach me some more dad!" said Natsu as he raised his hands in the air.

"Hahaha, are you sure? The next part is the hard stuff; my secret slayer techniques, think you can handle it?" asked Igneel in a teasing tone, a smirk on his face.

Natsu then returned Igneels smirk "Hahaha, you bet dad! I'm your son so I can handle anything!" he yelled, his eyes holding hard determination.

Igneel looked at his son with eyes filled with pride "Ha, when you put it like that I guess you are ready, ok here we go"…

* * *

_Several hours later…_

"_Pant… Pant, _Wow dad…_Pant…Pant…_ That was intense…_Pant…Pant_" said Natsu, now lying tired on the floor staring at the sky.

"Hahahaha, you have a lot of energy for a kid, _Pant…_ anything else you wanna learn?" said Igneel who was sitting on the floor with his legs crossed, looking at his son.

Natsu thought to himself for a moment then an idea struck him "Hey dad, would you teach me about the kingdom? Seeing as I'm gonna be King and all, I think I should know more about it right?" asked Natsu as he sat up.

Igneel just stared at his son with his eyes wide, he had never taken any interest in the kingdom before, so hearing this from his son was a bit of a shock.

"Hahaha, since when did my kid want to learn anything besides fighting?! Man he must be getting older!" exclaimed Igneel. Natsu just had a pout on his face.

"Dad! I'm being serious here!" ha yelled.

"Alright alright, agh, come with me, its time I showed you something" said Igneel as he got up and started to walk back into the castle.

Natsu followed his father up to the castles roof where you could see the entire kingdom, there was a nice cool breeze and the sun was shining high above the sky. Igneels' gaze was focused on the distance and his son soon followed his gaze.

"If you look out there Natsu you can see our kingdom, all the houses and markets that you see down there are governed by us." Explained Igneel

"Wow!" said Natsu, he didn't realize how big the kingdom was, but his gaze kept on moving towards the forest ant the border between it and the kingdom.

"Natsu, like all creatures in life our time rises and falls with the sun, and one day when the sun sets on my time here, it will rise with yours as the new king" said Igneel.

Natsu looked at his father in awe, he rarely said serious things to him so he wasn't expecting his father to treat him so grown-up. "Then this will all be mine?" he asked.

"Yup, everything" said Igneel.

Natsus' gaze again drifted towards the forest, he was so curious about it "Hey dad? What about the forest out there, is that part of the kingdom too?" he asked as he pointed toward the forest.

Igneels' gaze followed the direction of his sons finger and looked to the forest, his face had turned into a serious expression.

"That's beyond our borders, don't even think about going there Natsu" Igneel warned.

Natsu looked to his father and gave him a questioning look "Huh? But I thought a King could do whatever he wants?" asked Natsu.

"Oh Natsu, there's more to being King than getting your way all the time" said Igneel with a smile, he was heading downstairs, and wanted to show Natsu the rest of the kingdom.

"There's more!?" Natsu said in excitement as he followed his father, who chuckled at his sons' enthusiasm.

"Oh Natsu" he said.

* * *

As they headed into town people bowed and greeted the King and Prince as they walked by, and Igneel nodded his head in acknowledgement as they did.

"All the townspeople depend on us to keep the town running, for we maintain the source of income for the people and provide services that offer them food and money when they need it. As King; you must understand this process, and respect It." explained Igneel.

"But dad, don't we take money from the people, taxes or something?" asked Natsu as he gave his father a questioning glance.

"Haha, yes that's true Natsu, nice to see you've been paying attention, let me explain; we collect taxes in order to improve the lives of our people, by building better roads, creating better schools, and improving trade route, which in turn brings in more money for the people. And so we are all dependant on each other, the 'circle of life' if you will." said Igneel. **[A/N: See how I made up for the whole circle of life thing with modern people issues. Man that was tricky, I was struggling to find a similar reference to Mufasas' speech, but this was all I could come up with]**

"Good morning your Majesty" said a female voice, they both looked behind them and saw a small red-haired girl in armour holding a sword at her waist.

Natsu's face went pale and he hid behind his father as the girl approached _'Oh no, it's the demon girl '_thought Natsu.

"Ah good morning Erza, I see your doing well" said Igneel not noticing his sons' fear.

"Yes Sire, I just came to make sure that the Prince was behaving himself, but it seems as though that was unnecessary" she said as she saw him quivering behind the King, a smirk making its way to her face.

Igneel looked behind him and at his son and began to laugh "Hahahaha, I knew it was a good idea to put you in charge of him, it seems like only you can induce fear into him, hahaha!" Laughed Igneel, he was now clutching his sides.

"Oh I wouldn't say just me, there is at least one other person I can think of" said Erza with a knowing smirk.

"Hahahaha, your right! She is a sweetheart in general but when Natsu makes her mad she's almost as terrifying to him as you are! Hahahaha!" said Igneel.

Natsus' face was burning from anger and embarrassment, so he gathered up some courage and spoke up from behind his dad.

"The great Prince Natsu isn't afraid of anyone!" he yelled.

Erza looked at him blankly then smirked at him, causing him to flinch.

"Oh? Is that right? Then I guess you wouldn't be bothered if I told you that SHE is coming over in 20 minutes to play with you?" she asked as she looked at Natsu.

He looked at her blankly to see if she was kidding, but when he saw that she wasn't he ran off at full speed.

"Oi Natsu! Where the hell are you going!?" asked Igneel, completely dumbfounded by his sons actions.

"What do you think!? I'm gonna hide at Uncles place until I know it's safe!" he yelled back, and then disappeared around the corner.

Igneel was just confused and then looked to Erza hoping she could explain his sons behaviour.

"He still thinks she's mad at him from her last visit; he accidentally burnt some of her hair and she went crazy on him" she explained, shaking her head in disappointment.

Now Igneel understood, and he nodded his head in understanding.

"Man those two, I hope you can handle them Erza" said Igneel while scratching his head.

Erza let out a sigh "Well they are a handful at times, but its nothing I can't handle" she said while crossing her arms over her chest.

Igneel just shook his head, _'Well that's Erza for you. 11-years-old and already as mature as a young lady' _he thought.

"Well, lets head back" said Igneel, and they began walking back to the castle.

* * *

**Who is this girl that's coming over?**

**And will she kill Natsu when she see's him?**

**Hopefully all will be answered next chapter**

* * *

**[A/N: Wanted to write more, but the chapter ended up longer than I thought it would, oh well, can anyone guess who Erza's character is suppose to be, Heehee]**


	3. Secrets and Bath time?

**CHAPTER 3: Secrets and Bath time?**

**[A/N: Thank you to all my reviewers for your words of encouragement, here's my next chapter,]**

* * *

Natsu ran all the way to his uncle's house to hide from his best friend, he loved hanging out with her and all, but when she was mad her kicks hurt like hell. So as he got to his uncles house he kicked his front door open and made his way to the study where his uncle always seemed to be.

"Heya Uncle Acnologia!" he yelled as he entered the study, a grin on his face.

Acnologia groaned when he heard his nephews voice, this child had started these antics since he was 5, and Acnologia was getting annoyed. He wanted nothing to do with this kid but he just couldn't show that, he was formulating a plan and it required the assistance of the naïve little Prince.

"Hey uncle, uncle guess what, guess what" said Natsu as he ran up to his uncles desk and started jumping excitedly.

Acnologia just rolled his eyes out of irritation as he looked at his nephew "Natsu, you know I don't like playing guessing games, so just tell me what you need to say" he complained.

"Dad showed me some new techniques today! He also showed me around the kingdom, I can't believe the whole things gonna be mine one day!" said Natsu.

Acnologia kept a bored expression on his face, but on the inside he was fuming, did this kid not have a sense of hostility?

"Oh yes, hard to believe that a little kid like you's gonna rule a kingdom some day" he said in a monotonous tone, while looking down at the work on his desk.

"Yup I'm your next King!" he said in excitement while raising his hands in the air.

"Yes well forgive me for not leaping for joy and all, bad back you know" he said in annoyance that Natsu just didn't seem to pick up.

Natsu mad his way around the desk to stand next to his uncle and spread his arms over his desk "Hey uncle, when I'm the King what does that make you?" he asked.

Acnologia still kept his poker face on, despite how annoyed he was by Natsu's question "Well I guess that'd make me a monkeys uncle then" he answered seriously.

"Hahahahaha, uncle, you're such a weirdo!" laughed Natsu.

Acnologia looked at Natsu and got out of his chair to walk around "You have no idea. So Igneel showed you the whole kingdom yes?" he asked.

Natsu walked with his uncle to the couch and took a seat next to him "Yup, all of it" he exclaimed with a smile.

"Did he show you the Northern forest as well?" he asked, he was genuinely curious as to how he could turn this situation around to his advantage.

Natsus' face had turned from excited to disappointed and he had a pout on his face "No, he told me not to go there" he said sadly.

_'__Bingo' _thought Acnologia, he could use this opportunity "And he's absolutely right, that area is far too dangerous, only the toughest mages can handle it out there" he said, attempting to bait the kid.

Natsu jumped up as he heard this and looked at his uncle with slight offence on his face "But I'm a tough mage! Why, what's out there?!" he asked, curiosity on his face.

Acnologia just turned his head, pretending to keep some secret information from Natsu "I'm sorry Natsu, I simply can't tell you" his voice with mock concern.

"What!? Why not!?" yelled Natsu looking at his uncle with anger.

"Natsu Natsu, don't look at me that way, I'm only looking out for the well-being of my favourite little nephew" he said with a fake smile as he started rubbing Natsus' head.

"Whatever, I'm your only nephew" said Natsu with a small smile and his eyes scrunched together, his head was starting to hurt from his uncles rubbing.

Acnologia removed his hand from Natsus' head and stretched it behind the couch "Hahaha, all the more reason to watch out for you, I mean a dragon graveyard is no place for a kid, whoops" he said as he covered his mouth with his hand.

Natsus' eyes were wide with excitement when he heard 'Dragon Graveyard', they had gone extinct decades ago, and he always wanted to know what they looked like, so a dragon graveyard was the best place to find out.

"A Dragon Graveyard!? Awesome!" he yelled.

"Oh my, it appears I've said too much, well I suppose you would have found out eventually, with you being so clever and all" said Acnologia with mock appraisal and a sly smirk. He then pulled Natsu in for a hug, that felt more like a death-grip to Natsu "Just do me one favor Natsu, promise me you won't go to that dreadful place?" he asked with mock concern.

Natsu looked over his uncles shoulder out the window to catch a glimpse of the forest, he then looked to his uncle and gave him a small grin "No problem uncle" he said.

Acnologia just smiled slyly, Natsu was a bad liar so he knew he had taken the bait. He put Natsu down and pat his head.

"That's a good boy, now I think its time you get back home" he said as he gestured Natsu toward the door. "And remember Natsu…" Natsu turned back to look at his uncle "… It's our little secret" he said.

Natsu nodded his head and started walking back home, he knew his friend was already at his house, and he had completely forgotten that he was hiding from her, he just wanted to tell her about the graveyard, and get her to go with him to check it out.

Meanwhile Acnologia still had a sly smirk on his face and walked over to his telephone where he made a call to certain people he had recently employed.

"Hello, is this the Phantom Lord Organization? I have something I'd like taken care of" he asked, an evil grin now on his face. **[A/N: Don't worry, I've made it so Gajeel and Juvia were never in Phantom Lord, otherwise it would mess up my story]**

* * *

**[A/N: Dun dun dun… finally the NaLu has arrived!]**

Natsu made his way into the palace and was looking around for his friend, who he couldn't seem to find anywhere, he then ran into his mother, who had been looking for him the whole time.

"Mom, have you seen Lucy, I can't find her anywhere!" he yelled frantically.

"Oh, Lucy's taking a quick bath, your cat jumped out and scared her when she went outside to look for you, and she fell into a mud-puddle" she told her son.

Natsu burst out laughing "Hahahaha, man she's such a weirdo! Anyway I guess I'll talk to her when she's done" he said as he started to walk past his mother.

But just then she grabbed him by his ear and started pulling him down the hallway.

"Ouch! Mom what are you doing?!" he yelled as he was being dragged.

"You're not going anywhere young man, you still haven't bathed after your training this morning and you smell like barbeque!" she said as she pulled him towards the bathroom.

"But mom!" he protested, but her iron grip was too strong for him, so he just gave up.

He entered the bathroom where Lucy was still busy taking a bath while being washed by their hand-maid; Mira.

"Mom, I don't want to take a bath with her! I'm too old for that!" complained Natsu with a feint blush on his face.

"Ooooh, a big-shot are we? Well your still a kid in by book so off you go" said Grandine as she tossed Natsu to Mira, who then got him out his clothes in the blink of an eye, then tossed him in the tub. The bathtub was huge so there was enough room for four people in it, but it was just him and Lucy.

They both had small blushes on their faces, while they were in the tub, Mira couldn't help but think that they were so cute together, and started imagining them getting married and starting a family. Natsu took this opportunity to talk to Lucy while Mira was distracted.

"Hey Luce, so how you been?" he asked, trying to break the silence.

"Oh I'm fine, your stupid cat ruined my dress though so I have to borrow one of Erzas' old ones" she said with a scowl.

"Hey! Don't blame Happy! It's your own damn fault for being a klutz!" he yelled trying to defend his little buddy.

Lucy's face was red with anger "Shut up jerk!" she yelled as she splashed water on Natsu's face. He started splashing her back.

"Ha, you'll never be a great celestial mage if your so clumsy all the time" he said as he splashed her.

Lucy puffed out her cheeks and started splashing him even more "Just you watch Dragneel, I'll become the best celestial spirit mage out there, then you'll be sorry!" she yelled.

Thus began their bathtub splash war, it lasted until Mira snapped out of her daze and saw that they were getting water everywhere. A big tick mark made its way on to her forehead and she had a dark aura around her. The kids stopped splashing each other when they saw Mira's scary face, she may have been smiling, but it was a scary-ass smile. So they kept quiet until Mira was done bathing them and they got dressed.

He was greeted by his mother in the hallway along with Lucy's mother Layla, he had an angry look on his face while Lucy had a neutral expression.

"There, I'm clean, happy now?!" he asked, Grandine just raised a brow at him, then he shrunk back down.

"My, my Natsu, you've grown since I last saw you" said Layla as she bent down to Natsu's height and patted him on the head.

Natsu wore a grin as he heard this "Thanks Mrs Heartfilia!" he exclaimed.

The Heartfilias' were Nobles in the kingdom, they were I charge of running the trade routes of the kingdom, so they were also a form of royalty.

"And Lucy you look so cute, Erzas' dress doesn't look to bad on you" she said.

Lucy blushed slightly, she was wearing a sky-blue dress, with frills on the bottom, she had no idea that Erza owned anything so girly, she always thought that she was some kind of tomboy, now she sees that she had misjudged her.

"Thanks mama" she said in a shy voice.

"Ok, lets go to my room, I need to tell you something!" yelled Natsu as he pulled Lucy by her arm.

"Owwwww! Natsu!" yelled Lucy.

Layla and Grandine exchanged looks and then began to squeal like excited teenagers.

"Eeeeeepppp! Could this be a love confession!?" they yelled simultaneously.

Natsu just rolled his eyes and continued to walk down the corridor, while Lucy had a confused look on her face.

* * *

They entered Natsus' room, and he closed the door behind them.

Lucy was getting a little paranoid, she had never seen him act so secretive before, and she was starting to wonder if he was going to confess to her.

He sat down on the floor with his legs crossed and his hands on his knees and gestured for Lucy to follow. She sat down in front of him on her knees and placed her hands on her lap, waiting for him to speak.

"Ok, I wanted to tell you about this really awesome place that I heard about" he said with a huge smile on his face.

Lucy just stared at him blankly, and then gave him a karate chop to the head.

"Ooouuuch! What was that for!?" He yelled as he rubbed the spot where she hit him, a small tear on the corner of his eye.

"You idiot, you didn't have to run all the way out here just to tell me about some new place you found! Geez, you had me worried for a second" she said as she let out a sigh and put her hand over her chest.

"Eh? Worried about what?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

Lucy just rolled her eyes at him "Never mind, so what's this about some awesome place that you heard about? It better not be any place dumb" she asked.

Natsu had a grin on his face "It's really awesome, you won't believe it!" he exclaimed.

"Oh? And where exactly is this 'really awesome place' if I may ask?" said a voice from the door.

It was Grandine, who was walking in with Layla behind her, they were hoping to hear a love confession from Natsu, but were left disappointed. Grandine's eyebrow was raised at the now nervous Natsu. He knew his mother would never let him go anywhere without her permission, and the outskirts of the kingdom was not a place he would get permission to go to. So he had only one option; lie.

"Um… i-its that new park at the edge of town!" he said, silently patting himself on the back for his genius lie.

"The new park!? What's so great about that place?" she asked with a scowl on her face as she stood up, they had been there before and it was actually pretty boring.

Natsu cringed when she asked him about the park, so he got up and whispered in her ear so that their parents couldn't hear "I'll show you when we get their" he said in a low voice.

Lucy looked at his face and once she saw the look in his eyes she saw that he was trying to tell her that the place he wanted to go was what she called 'Parent Blocked'.

"Oh" she answered, getting his point. She then looked to her mother with pleading eyes "Um mom, can I go with Natsu?" she asked.

"Hhhmm… what do you think Grandine?" asked Layla as she looked to her friend.

"Weeeellllll…" said Grandine as she was thinking it over with a finger on her chin.

Natsu and Lucy ran up to Grandine and gave her their best smiles and puppy dog eyes "Please!?" they asked together.

She let out a sigh, she was no match for their cute faces "It's alright with me" she said.

"Yaaaay!" they yelled together and made their way out of his room, but stopped as Grandine continued to speak.

"If…" she said "Erza goes with you" she finished, she had to make sure her son behaved while he was out.

Natsu and Lucy's eyes widened and their faces went a little pale "No! Not Erza!" they said together.

* * *

**Will Natsu and Lucy make it to this awesome place?**

**Or will Erza get in their way?**

**All will be revealed in the next chapter**

* * *

**[A/N: So was this chapter ok? Please review and let me know what you think _]**


	4. I cant wait to be King!

**CHAPTER 4: I can't wait to be King!**

Natsu and Lucy were busy walking next to each other as they made their way through the village; Erza was leading the way to the park they said they wanted to go to. Lucy had her hands behind her back and was deep in thought while Natsu had his hands behind his head as he tried to think of a way to ditch the red-haired monster, when he suddenly realized something.

"Hey Erza where's my dad? I didn't see him when I got home." He asked slight concern on his face.

Erza looked over her shoulder at the young Prince, and then turned to look forward again.

"We received word of Dark mages entering our hunting grounds, so your father headed out to deal with them" she said.

Natsu's eyes widened, he had always wanted to see his dad in action but he never let him go with him, his face then turned into a cranky pouty one "Ah man! He never lets me go with him, I'm missing all the action!" he complained.

Erza smiled a small smile and gave a small chuckle "Don't worry my prince, when you're King you can beat up those scum from breakfast till dinner" she said.

Natsu just gave out a sigh and looked up at the sky when Lucy came closer to him and started to whisper "So where are we really going?" she asked, trying to make sure Erza didn't hear.

Natsu got closer to her ear "Where going to a Dragon Graveyard" he whispered excitedly, with a grin on his face.

"What?!" she said loudly, shock in her eyes.

"Ssshhh!" said Natsu putting his finger over his lip. They both glanced at Erza, and let out a sigh of relief when they noticed that she didn't hear them.

"Don't let her find out" he whispered.

Lucy nodded her head "Ok, but how are we gonna ditch the monster?" she asked.

They continued to try and formulate a plan when Erza glanced back she noticed how close together they were and sighed while smiling. She stopped to look at the two, who had also stopped when they saw her just standing in front of them.

"Ah just look at you two, so intimate at such a young age, your mothers will be jumping for joy" she said.

Natsu and Lucy just had confused looks on their faces, mostly because they didn't know what intimate meant, then Natsu just rolled his eyes as she continued to speak.

"I mean being engaged at such a young age already, its nice to see how close you are" she finished.

"En-what now?" asked Natsu, confusion all over his face as well as Lucy's.

"Oh you know, betrothed, intended, affianced." Erza tried to explain, but their faces showed her that they were still confused.

"What the heck does that mean Erza?" asked Lucy with her eyebrow raised.

Erza then gave them a big smile "It means that when your older you two are going to be married" she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Natsu and Lucy's eyes widened, they then looked at each other then scrunched their noses in disgust.

"Eew"

"Blech"

"I can't marry Lucy, she's my best friend" complained Natsu with his eyebrows scrunched together.

"Yeah, that's just weird Erza" agreed Lucy.

Erza just lifted her nose to the air, unwilling to hear their protests "Well sorry to disappoint you guys but you don't have a choice. This tradition has been going on for generations" , as Erza explained Natsu kept on going _blah blah blah_ when she wasn't looking which made Lucy giggle.

"Yeah well when I'm King, that traditions gonna be thrown out the window!" yelled Natsu.

Erza gave Natsu a death-glare, which caused him to pale and shiver slightly "You will do no such thing as long as I'm around" she warned.

Natsu would have usually shut up and left it at that, but Lucy was here and he didn't want to seem uncool in front of her, so he sucked up all his courage and continued to speak.

"Well in that case maybe I'll fire you" he said, grinning to himself at his new found courage. Lucy was shocked but impressed at Natsus' bravery/stupidity.

Erza then had a smug look on her face and placed her hands on her hips "Ha, only the King can do that, nice try though" she said.

Lucy then decided to speak "Well, he is the 'Future' King isn't he?" she asked with a smile on her face, while folding her arms over her chest, proud of herself for outsmarting Erza.

"Hey that's right! So you have to do what I tell you!" Natsu said with a smug look on his face.

"Not yet I don't! And with that kind of attitude your not going to make a very good King" she yelled, a scowl now on her face, but Natsu wasn't bothered, he had new determination now and wasn't going to lose it.

"I'll be a great King! Better than any other King ever!" he yelled pointing at Erza, a grin on his face.

Erza didn't like being talked back to, but unfortunately she wasn't allowed to kill the Prince for his stupidity, so all she could do was try to bring him down from his High horse "Well I don't think I've seen any King with pink hair!" she yelled.

Natsus' eye twitched and a tick mark appeared above his eyebrow, he let out a roar and a small fire erupted out of his mouth, it wasn't as big as his fathers Fire-Dragon Roar, but he thought he was getting pretty close to it.

"Ha, see! I've been working on my roar! That's pretty Kingly!" he yelled placing his hands on his hips with pride.

Erza just gave him a bored expression "That was rather small don't you think Natsu?" she asked.

Natsu was about to lose it when Lucy suddenly grabbed his scarf and pulled him away from Erza, she had just thought of a way to ditch her while they were both arguing.

"Hey Erza, isn't that a new cake shop over there?" asked Lucy while pointing behind Erza.

Erzas' eyes lit up as she turned to where Lucy was pointing, and she started walking towards it, but when she got closer she noticed that it was only a regular bread bakery. Her eyes held such disappointment and when she turned around, she realized that the Prince and Lucy had vanished.

She looked so angry that her eyes were glowing red, and her hair looked like tentacles. She raised her fist in anger and began to run in search of them "You kids are gonna pay for that!" she yelled while running.

* * *

She stopped running after 5 Minutes and started looking around "I think Natsu and I need to have a little 'talk' when I find him" she said to herself as she was slamming her fist into her hand. She then saw a tuft of pink hair and ran towards it, they were fast, but Erza was faster. The crowd however, was seriously slowing her down _'This kid is getting out of control' _she thought as she saw him pulling Lucy down the street.

Natsu looked back and saw Erza slowly catching up to them, Lucy noticed too and thought of something. She stopped for a second to say something while Natsu just looked at her like she was crazy.

"Free bread down by the bakery!" she yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth to increase her volume.

As she said this all the villagers suddenly made a mad dash for the bakery that was in Erzas' direction, pulling Erza along with them _'Shit' _she thought to herself, she forgot that Lucy was a pretty smart kid, so she didn't expect this.

Natsu continued to run with Lucy until he saw a kid with blue hair on the side of the street and suddenly got an idea. He walked up to the kid and held out a 10 note Jewel in front of him. The boys eyes grew wide at seeing the money. Lucy just stared at Natsu confused, she knew that her little distraction wouldn't last long so why was he wasting their time?

"I'll give this to you if you keep that red-haired girl with the armour busy for as long as possible, got it?" said Natsu as he gave the boy the money.

The boy took it and nodded his head "You got it dude" he said while giving a thumbs up and keeping a look-out for the girl he described.

Natsu then gave the boy a grin and sped off, _'Was that a tattoo on his face?' _he thought, but then just shrugged it off as he kept pulling Lucy towards the Northern forest.

* * *

They had finally ran into the forest and looked back to see if Erza had caught up to them and were relieved to not see her anywhere.

"Hahahaha, awesome it worked!" said Natsu excitedly, grinning to himself.

"Hahahaha, we actually lost her!" said Lucy in disbelieve.

Natsu put his hands behind his head and puffed out his chest "I'm a genius" he said.

Lucy scowled at his statement, the whole reason the even got away from her was because she distracted her "Hey genius, it was my idea" she said with a brow raised.

"Maybe, but I got her to back off" he said turning his head away from her.

"Not without my help you didn't" she said with a pout.

"Oh yeah?" He said. He then pounced toward Lucy and tried to tackle her, but she saw this coming and dodged to the left causing him to hit the ground face-first.

"Missed me" she said as she stuck her tongue at him and started to giggle at him.

"Oh just shut up" he whined. As soon as he was sure she wasn't looking he tried to tackle her again, but Lucy saw this coming and had a trick up her sleeve.

She lifted the hem of her skirt so that her panties were visible, and as soon as Natsu saw them he blushed a deep shade of red and froze in his spot. Lucy them smirked to herself and ran towards Natsu and kicked him in the gut.

"Lucy kick!" she yelled as she hit him. What they didn't know was that they were standing on a hill, and Natsu was currently rolling down the hill in a very undignified manner.

Lucy looked down at Natsu who was sprawled out on the floor, with circles in his eyes. She wasn't worried about him, coz she had kicked him a lot worse before and he was fine then.

She then began to laugh maniacally at him "Hahahahaha, the panty distraction works everytime! Hahaha" she said from h top of the hill.

Natsu just groaned and held his stomach as he got up "Damn Lucy, that's cheating! Don't you have any shame!? Girls aren't supposed to show guys their undies!" he yelled angrily. She would always pull that trick on him when they were fighting, and he fell for it every time which was starting to annoy him.

"Oh don't give me that, when it comes to fighting you have to use whatever tools are available to give you a better chance, there is no shame when it comes to fighting!" she yelled as she slid down the hill to meet up with Natsu.

He stared at her angrily and kept rubbing his gut. Just then Lucy noticed a clearing behind Natsu where she couldn't see any trees. He noticed her looking behind him and followed her gaze, when he saw the clearing he thought that they may have found the graveyard and started grinning, so he grabbed Lucy's wrist and started walking towards it pulling Lucy along with him.

* * *

They had just entered the clearing and Natsu and Lucy's eyes went wide, they could not believe what they were seeing right now.

"Woah" they both said in awe. Tons and tons of dragon skeletons were laying everywhere, scattered all along the dead land, but there was one skeleton that remained perfectly together; and it was HUGE. The skull was bigger than a house and it had horns coming out of the sides, its claws and arms were extended in front of it; like it was trying to crawl away from something before it died, and its body went on for miles! The head looked like an entry to an enormous cave.

Lucy and Natsu looked at each other with excitement, both with grins on their faces. Lucy looked around but still stayed close to Natsu, she would never admit it but she was a little afraid "Its so creepy" she said in awe.

"I know… isn't it great!?" said Natsu as he looked at Lucy with a cheeky smirk.

Lucy folded her arms, but still kept a cheeky grin on her face "We could get in big trouble" she said, making more of a statement than a warning.

Natsus' grin got even wider "I know!" he said.

They both made their way towards the mouth of the big dragon "I wonder if its brains are still in there?" Lucy asked as she slowly approached.

"Well, guess we're gonna have to find out!" said Natsu as he started walking inside the mouth but was stopped by a hand squeezing his shoulder.

"You will do no such thing!"

He turned his head in fear only to be met by the death-glare of none other than Erza, _'I guess the kid couldn't hold her back for very long' _thought Natsu. He noticed that Erza had requiped into her Black Wing armor, however she only managed to equip the wings to her Heart Kreuz armor. **[A/N: Erza was still young and she still had to grow into the armor that she had collected so she only requiped the parts of the armor that she felt would help her when needed.]** _'So that explains how she got here so fast' _he thought.

"Oh crap" he said, he was gonna get it now.

"The only thing you'll have to find out is how long it'll take for you to start walking again when I'm done with you" she said, still giving him the death-glare. Natsus' face was pale and his knees were shaking as he broke out into a cold sweat, he didn't even want to imagine what Erza had in store for him.

"Now lets get out of here, were way too far out of the kingdoms border for my liking" she said as she let go of Natsu and began to cautiously look around.

Natsu just groaned in frustration "Why are you such a goody-two-shoes Erza?!" he complained.

Erza started poking his chest accusingly "That's Miss Goody-two-shoes to you! I mean really, tricking that cute boy into distracting me, have you no shame Natsu?!" she said with a slight blush on her face, "Anyway we have to get going, we could be in real danger if we're not on our guard" she said as she looked around.

Natsu just rolled his eyes at her and walked towards the dragon skull "Danger? Ha! I'm the great Natsu! I laugh in the face of Danger! Hahahaha!" he said as he put his hands on his hips.

Just then he heard many laughs coming from inside the dragon skull, and jumped behind Lucy who was being guarded by Erza.

Suddenly three people emerged from inside the dragon and began walking towards the kids. There was a girl with short dark-green hair and light-brown skin, a bald guy with light-brown skin and purple sunglasses, and a guy with black and white hair with a black line across his face. They all had scary smirks on their faces as they walked towards the children.

"Well, well, well, Boze. What do we have hear?" said the girl in a sarcastic tone as she stared at them.

"I don't know Sue. What do you think Totomaru?" the man named Boze asked sarcastically.

The man with black and white hair aka; Totomaru, just chuckled maniacally while shaking his head.

"My thoughts exactly; nothing but a bunch of trespassers!" said Boze as he approached the red-haired girl, now glaring at her.

Erzas' face stayed neutral, she wasn't afraid of these people so she could take them down easily, but they were on their territory so she wasn't so surprised by their hostility.

Lucy was hiding behind Natsu and holding on to his shirt, while he was trying to shield her from these creepy people.

"Forgive me and my friends, we didn't mean to trespass, they simply got lost, we'll be on our way now" said Erza as she motioned for them to get moving. As they turned to move away however, the girl named Sue grabbed Erzas' shoulder stopping her in her tracks and causing her to look questioningly over her shoulder.

"Hold on, I know you. Your little Miss Titania aren't you? Igneels little protector?" she said with a sly grin.

Erza pushed the girls hand off her shoulder and turned to face her "I'm actually just the Deputy Head of his security detail" she said, scowling at the girl.

She failed to notice that the other two men had now started circling around Natsu and Lucy, but did when she heard Boze talk to Natsu.

"Then I guess that makes you…" he said as he stared at Natsu.

"Future King, and Fire Mage" said Natsu, a scowl on his face, he wasn't afraid of these low-lifes, but he kept trying to shield Lucy from them coz she looked terrified. Erza then backed up to Natsu and stood back-to-back with him and Lucy, keeping an eye on these nosy people.

"We're part of the Phantom Lord Organization kid. Do you know what we do to mages who don't know their place?" she asked arrogantly as she and her friends circled the kids.

"Puh, you guys can't do anything to me" said Natsu with arrogance.

Erza turned her head to speak into Natsus' ear "Well, technically they can, we are in their territory" she corrected.

Natsu gave her a confused look and raised his eyebrow at her "But Erza, you told me that these guys were nothing but scum?" he questioned, as they continued to circle them.

"Don't provoke them you idiot!" she whisper-yelled at him.

"Who're you calling an idiot?!" asked Boze as he came up to Erza, an angry look on his face.

Erza put her hand on top of the hilt of her sword; she was only permitted to fight if it was absolutely necessary. If she could she would always choose avoiding fights rather than initiating them.

She started backing away from them with Natsu and Lucy behind her "Well if you'll excuse us, it's getting late so we'd better head home" she said as she attempted to leave, but Sue blocked their path.

"Oh, what's the hurry Titania? Why don't you stick around and play with us?" she said in a baby voice.

"Yeah, we love a good game of target practice, hahahahaha!" said Boze.

"Hey what are you talking about Boze I wanted to play a friendly game of hide and seek hahahaha!" said Sue.

"Hey guys?" said Totomaru.

"What!" they yelled together.

"They ran off while you were talking" he said as he pointed in the direction of the running children with a blank look on his face.

Sue and Boze glanced at each other then gave an evil smirk

"Looks like they want to play tag Boze" said Sue as she began to gather magical energy.

"Sounds like fun to me" said Boze as he began to chuckle evilly.

* * *

**What are these people after?**

**Will Natsu, Lucy and Erza get away?**

**Till next chapter.**

* * *

**[A/N: Ok, so I couldn't sleep so I just had to post a new chapter and I think it turned out pretty good. Hope that little hint of Jerza excited you a bit, hehe. And how's Lucy, 7 years old and already using her feminine whiles to beat the boys. Hope you enjoyed it :D] **


	5. I will always be there to guide you

**CHAPTER 5: I will always be there to guide you**

They ran as fast as they could, the second they were distracted Erza grabbed Natsu and Lucy's hands and pulled them deeper into the graveyard. It was their only exit at the time, so she had no choice but to go further in. She told then to run ahead of her and silenced Natsus' protests about how 'he could take 'em on' and how 'kings never run away!' by pointing out that he had to protect Lucy.

After a few seconds of running Erza could hear their pursuers getting closer to them, so she stopped to face them and try to hold them off while the prince and Lucy escaped.

She equipped herself with her Black Wing blade and took a ready stance to prevent them from going any further.

"Stop right there!" she yelled "I shall not permit you to harm the prince or the young miss!"

Sue, Boze and Totomaru stopped in there tracks, their faces held sly grins.

"Just try and stop us" Sue said arrogantly.

Erza began her charge and tried to slash Sue, but a bunch of mirrors suddenly appeared and took her attack instead. Erza took a step back to observe what had just happened, when all of a sudden the mirrors started glowing. It happened in a flash, suddenly Erza was bombarded by what felt like swords slashing at her knocking her back a few feet.

"_Pant, Pant, _I see… _Pant, Pant_, so you use mirror magic right? _Pant…Pant_" said Erza.

"Hahaha, very good kid, you're tougher than I thought you'd be, but sadly you're not the one we're after, Boze! Send her flying!" said Sue.

_'__What did she mean by that? So them being here wasn't a coincidence?" _thought Erza.

"My pleasure Sue, Howl!" said Boze as he suddenly let a barrage of sound escape from his mouth and aimed it directly at Erza.

She wasn't expecting the attack and it hit her directly, causing her to fly in the air and land on the ground a few feet back. She was disorientated from Boze's sound attack, but she could see the dark mages chase after Natsu and Lucy.

_'__This is bad, I must get help!' _thought Erza, she got up and requiped into her Flight armor, [A/N: well she could only wear the cat ears and the shoes at the time] and ran toward the East forest to get help. **[A/N: Ok, so I don't want to get chewed out for this so let me explain; Erza is still a kid and these dark mages are adults, and Erza doesn't have insanely crazy strength yet, so that's why she got beaten. Secondly; she understands that she can't take on 3 mages by herself when she can't even do a full-armor requip yet, so she did the RESPONSIBLE thing and went to get help, I hope that's a reasonable explanation]**

* * *

Meanwhile Natsu and Lucy were running to try and get away, until Lucy tripped and fell on a dragon bone, causing Natsu to stop running. They were both panting heavily.

"_Pant, Pant _d-did we lose them? _Pant, Pant_" asked Lucy as she tried to get up.

"It looks like it. Hey where the hell did Erza go!?" yelled Natsu as he only now noticed that their red-haired friend had gone missing. Lucy and Natsu were frantically looking around in the hopes of finding her, when Sue and Totomaru came into view.

Natsus' eyes lit up with rage and he ignited his fist "What the hell did you do to Erza!?" he yelled.

Totomaru waved his hand, then suddenly Natsus' flame went away, leaving him shocked and confused when he saw no fire on his fist anymore. No matter how many times he tried to re-ignite it, the flame would always suddenly disappear.

"I can control fire boy, in other words your magic is useless against us" said Totomaru.

Natsu backed away slightly, he had never been in a situation where he couldn't use his magic and didn't know what to do. He was suddenly brought back to reality when he felt something tug at the back of his scarf.

Lucy was shaking from fear and holding on to Natsu's scarf for comfort. Seeing this he put on a serious face and grabbed Lucy's hand and continued to run.

They kept going until Bozes' figure came into view in front of them, Lucy let out a scream while Natsu pulled her to another direction.

The three dark mages laughing hysterically at their frightened prey while chasing them.

Natsu saw a steep hill of dragon bones which was their only way out at the moment so he gestured to Lucy to climb up with him, to which she followed.

They were halfway up when Natsu heard Lucy scream, he looked down at her and noticed that she was slipping and the dark mages were closing in on her.

"Natsu!" yelled Lucy in panic.

Driven purely by his instincts, Natsu slid down the hill to get to Lucy. He saw Sue almost grab her leg as she was struggling to climb up, anger flowed through him and he quickly lit his fist on fire as he punched Sue in the face, leaving a scar where he burned her.

He then pulled Lucy up with him and they continued to run.

Sue placed her hand on the spot where Natsu had burned her and let out a low growl "Ok kid, no more fun and games" she said in a deathly voice.

* * *

They had finally reached the top of the bone-hill and further ahead they saw a cave, they had no choice but to run into it.

They kept running and running until to their dismay they saw the end of the cave; the wall was too steep for them to climb up and turning back wasn't an option.

Natsu tried to lift Lucy up to the ledge at the end of the cave but she was too short to reach it.

Natsu lost his footing and Lucy fell on top of him, letting out a small scream.

As they picked themselves up Natsu saw the dark mages approaching them, each with a look of anger on their faces.

"Well, well, looks like they can't run any further boys" said Sue, he voice filled with malice as well as a malicious grin.

Natsu stood in front of Lucy and shielded her with his arm, he had to think of something quick.

Panicked, Natsu did the only thing he could think of at the moment "Fire-Dragon Roar!" he yelled.

The flames were small, but just to be safe Totomaru dispelled them, laughing as he did so.

"Is that the best you can do little prince? Why don't you try again?" he said as he chuckled at Natsus' weak attempts at hurting them.

Natsu was about to try and release another roar, when he suddenly heard one from behind the dark mages, his face riddled with shock.

The dark mages looked at each other in shock wondering whose roar that was when they were suddenly dowsed with incredibly red hot flames.

Natsu then saw his father Igneel attacking the dark mages like they were nothing, Totomaru was too fear stricken to even think about fighting back the fearsome flames.

Erza had run inside just after Igneel did and ran up to the frightened children, she was tired from her excessive use of her Light-speed armor but she kept up her tough face for the kids.

Igneel had the dark mages crouching together in fear, they kept on begging for mercy from him but were silenced when Igneel spoke.

"Be still!" he yelled, Natsu had never seen his dad like this before, it was almost as if his dad had transformed into a dragon himself.

"If you dare to lay a hand on my son again" said Igneel in a low growl, flames leaving his mouth as he spoke.

"W-w-w-we d-d-didn't know t-t-that he w-w-was your son Sire" said Sue as she tried to lie her way away from his terrifying form.

"Y-y-yes i-i-its t-t-true" said Boze too afraid to look up.

Igneel let out a low growl and they looked to the exit of the cave and made a mad dash for it.

Erza was getting ready to run after them but the Kings low voice made her stop dead "Leave them" he said, Erza hung her head down in anger and kept silent.

Natsu walked up to his dad with Lucy following slowly behind him "Dad I-" "-You just refuse to listen to me don't you?" asked Igneel, disappointment evident in his voice as he looked at his son with a scowl on his face.

Natsu felt guilt rush through him as he saw his dads face "Dad, I-I'm sorry" he said, trying to earn his dads forgiveness.

Igneel just turned to look forward and started walking "Lets go home" he said in a commanding voice.

Erza followed behind the King, leaving the kids to walk by themselves.

Natsu was walking with his fists balled tight as he held a guilty look in his eyes. Lucy saw his face and felt so sad for him. She grabbed his hand causing him to unclench his fist and she intertwined their fingers, Natsu glanced at her as she looked forward with a sad smile on her face, she whispered something that only he could here "I thought you were pretty brave back there" she said as she looked to the ground.

Natsu gave her a sad smile and squeezed her hand, his silent way of saying thanks.

* * *

However unbeknownst to them; a man had seen all the events that had occurred and was not happy with the outcome.

* * *

By the time the King and the children had made it to the castle, it was already dark out, the stars present in the sky.

Igneel had walked them back the whole way without uttering a word. Lucy kept glancing at Natsu worriedly but never spoke, Erza did the same.

"Erza!" said Igneel as he ushered Erza to speak with him.

They had just entered Natsus' specialised training field, Igneel was standing in the middle of the field while the kids were further back.

Erza had a slightly fearful gaze as she approached the King "Yes Sire?" she asked.

Igneel looked at Lucy as he spoke "I want you to take Lucy to her mother, I need to have a few words with my son" he said, a scowl still present on his face.

Natsu stiffened at his fathers words and Lucy gave his hand one last squeeze as Erza approached her.

"Come on Lucy, Natsu…" she said as she turned her head to him, a sympathetic look on her face as she sighed "…good luck" and she started walking beside Lucy; who gave him one last glance before she continued down the hallway.

Natsu watched her leave until he was brought back to reality by his fathers voice "Natsu!" Igneel had his back turned to his son and his arms crossed over his chest.

Natsu cringed at his fathers voice and turned to walk towards his intimidating figure with his head hung down.

As he walked along the field he looked to all the singes and burn marks they had made and noticed how much bigger his dads ones were when in comparison to his own. He felt so small and weak compared to his dad, and realized that he still has to grow much more.

He continued to walk to where his father stood until he was standing right next to him.

Igneel closed his eyes and lowered his head "Natsu I'm really disappointed in you" he said in a stern voice.

Natsu cringed and hung his head "I know dad" he said.

"I can't believe you ran off to the exact place I told you specifically not to go! You could have been killed! And whats makes it even worse was that you could have gotten Lucy hurt!"

Natsu was trying really hard to hold back the tears he felt forming in the corners of his eyes "I-I was just trying to be tough like you" he said still staring at the ground, his voice cracking as he spoke.

"Natsu… I'm only tough when I need to be…" he said as he looked at his son with sympathy "Being tough, doesn't mean you go off looking for trouble"

"But-but you're the great Igneel! Nothing shakes you off, your never afraid of anything!" yelled Natsu looking at his father with a confused look on his face.

Igneel looked up into the sky with a solemn look in his eyes "I was scared today Natsu" he said.

Natsu looked at his father in shock "Y-you were?" he asked.

Igneel nodded his head and knelt down to make eye-contact with Natsu "I thought I was gonna lose you kiddo" he said with a sad voice as he patted Natsu on the head.

Natsu looked at his dad with a small smile on his face "I guess even the great Igneel gets scared huh?" he said, Igneel mimicked his sons smile and nodded his head in agreement.

"But you know what dad?" said Natsu in a whisper. Igneel scooted closer to his son so that he could hear his secret "What?" he asked in a whisper.

Natsu gave Igneel his signature grin as he spoke "I think those stupid Dark Mages were the biggest pansies there".

Igneel gave his son a hearty chuckle "That's coz nobody messes with your dad, come here you!" he said as he pulled Natsu in for a noogie.

"Ahhh no dad! Ok you asked for it!" said Natsu as he pried himself from his fathers grip and started chasing him around while throwing fire-balls at him, Igneel chuckling the whole time. He even slowed down on purpose so that Natsu could tackle him to the ground. They wrestled around a bit until Natsu was pinning Igneel down by sitting on his chest.

They both looked to each other with such happy faces; grinning their usual grins, Natsu was panting lightly.

"Hey dad?" he asked with a smile still on his face.

Igneel looked down to his son to hear him speak.

"We're buddies right?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"Hahaha, right" said Igneel with a smile.

"And we'll always be together right?" asked Natsu.

Igneel sat upright and held Natsu in his lap, his face unreadable "Natsu, let me tell you something that an old friend once told me… look at the stars, all the people we meet who have passed on, look down on us from those stars" he said

"Really?" he asked as he followed his fathers gaze to stare at the starry sky above.

"Yup, so whenever you feel alone just remember that those stars will always be there to guide you, and so will I" said Igneel.

"Woah, so your gonna turn into a ball of hot gas huh?" asked Natsu smirking cheeckily, chuckling at his fathers words.

Igneel just hit him on the head creating a bump "Ouch! Dad, I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit! You got all deep and stuff, it's not like you" said Natsu with a pout.

"Geez, hear I am trying to have a tender moment with my son, and he says its 'not like me', rude little brat, maybe I'll get Erza to teach you some manners?" he said with a sly smirk.

Natsu paled and started running after his father who was running off to find the red haired Demon "No dad! Anything but that!" he said as they ran and laughed down the hallways.

* * *

Meanwhile in an unknown location…

"Damn that little brat, this might actually become a permanent scar!" yelled Sue.

She, Totomaru and Boze had returned to their base to patch themselves up after their encounter with Igneel.

Sue was looking at herself in her mirror while Totomaru and Boze where arguing over whose fault it was that they didn't get the job done.

"If you had just finished off that little armoured brat Igneel wouldn't have shown up!" yelled Totomaru.

"Yeah well if you had done your job and killed the kid instead of toying around with him, then we wouldn't have had to worry about Igneel!" yelled Boze.

Sue was beginning to get ticked off at their pointless arguing.

"You want to start a fight baldy?!" yelled Totomaru

"Bring it on skunk-head" yelled Boze.

Sue had had enough of them and just whacked them on the back of their heads. "Would you idiots give it a rest already!" she yelled as she hit them.

"But he started it!" they both yelled and pointed to each other, Sue just face-palmed herself.

"This is why we're flat broke!" she yelled.

"Man I hate being broke!" yelled Boze.

"Yeah, well if it weren't for those damn royal mages in town we'd be running it!" she yelled.

Suddenly a new voice had entered the building "So I see when things don't go your way you whine about it to each other, and here I thought I had hired professionals".

They all looked toward the voice and saw a figure standing on top of their staircase, their faces relaxed and they began smirking, knowing full well who had arrived at their building hall.

"Acnologia…"

* * *

**[A/N: Well that's the next chapter, hopefully you all liked it. That was my first time writing a battle scene, I hope it was ok. Also I thought that it would be more in Natsus character to try and crack a joke during Igneels speech. Anyway please review and tell me what you think, I'm starting university soon so I might not update as frequently, but if you guys send me a lot of reviews I'll do my best to update… wait, am I holding this story hostage for reviews? O_O]**


	6. Schemes and Lies

**CHAPTER 6: Schemes and Lies**

**[A/N: Sorry for the wait minna, I've been busy with Uni and work so I havn't had a chance to write, but here it is, chapter 6!]**

**I dedicate this chapter to IceWatermage coz you are an awesome person XD**

* * *

"Oh thank God its just you Acnologia, we were afraid it was a royal" said Sue as she let out a sigh of relief.

"Yeah, like Igneel" agreed Boze while taking a seat.

Acnologia had an un-amused look on his face at these statements "I see".

"Man, that guy is crazy powerful, his very name scares me out of my wits" said Sue "and his stupid green-haired son really ticked me off!".

The guys around her just sweat-dropped, this girl had serious problems when it came to identifying colour. "Um Sue, his hair was pink, not green" said Boze.

"Don't be silly Boze, his hair was clearly green, do we need to take you to an eye doctor?" said Sue.

Totomaru just chuckled to himself listening to the two of them, while Acnologia shook his head and started rubbing his temples "I'm surrounded by idiots" he said.

"Well at least we don't have to be afraid of you Acnologia, we are in your service after all" said Boze.

"Lovely" said Acnologia sarcastically.

"Oh I love that, he's not royalty but he acts so formal around us" said Sue while she sat down.

"Yeah that's true, so um… are we still gonna get paid?" asked Boze.

Acnologia sneered at them then showed off a huge wad of cash, waving it over their heads while they stared at it greedily "I don't think you really deserve this, I practically handed those brats to you on a silver platter, and you couldn't even land a scratch on them"

He threw the money towards the floor and it flew everywhere, they began to scramble to gather as much as they could for themselves.

"Well with all do respect Acnologia, they weren't exactly alone you know" said Sue while she was still scrambling for some jewels.

"Yeah, I mean its not like we can just kill of Igneel you know?" agreed Boze while picking up the last few jewel on the floor.

"Oh but that's exactly what were going to do my friends" said Acnologia with a sly smirk.

They all stopped what they were doing and looked at Acnologia questioningly.

"I'll wait for the rest of your companions to return and explain more then, for now though I wish to be left alone" said Acnologia as he went into a room upstairs.

They all looked to each other in hopes of receiving an explanation, but knew that they had no idea what their boss was thinking.

"Well whatever, as long as we get paid I don't care either way" said Sue.

The guys just nodded in agreement with her, and waited for the rest of their companions to return.

* * *

After a few hours the rest of the Phantom Lord members had returned from their daily task of raiding travelling merchants and were now patiently waiting for their boss to tell them his next plan of action.

Acnologia had then suddenly appeared at the top of the staircase and was slowly making his way down.

Phantom Lord was powerful, but only to a certain extent, the main reason Acnologia hired them in the first place; was because of their numbers. Say you were an incredibly powerful mage but there was only one of you, then you were faced with an incredible number of moderately powerful mages, your chances of survival would then be 50/50 for both sides.

Acnologia had an evil smirk on his face as he descended down the stairs, he couldn't wait to put his plan into action and finally receive everything he deserved.

"I know that most of you aren't the brightest mages out there, so I shall try and explain this as simply as I possibly can" he said in a commanding voice.

The mages just kept quiet, they didn't care what this guy said as long as they got paid.

"This kind of opportunity is a blessing for you dark mages and you should all be thankful that I even considered you. I am presenting you with the chance of a lifetime as we embark on a new era!" he exclaimed while walking through the sea of mages, while they whispered to each other.

Sue walked up in front of Acnologia with a confused look on her face "What exactly are you asking of us?" she said with her arms crossed.

Acnologia looked at Sue then grabbed her by the neck and picked her up, causing the rest of the mages to silence their murmuring and all that could be heard were Sue's desperate gasps for air.

"You might want to sit down and listen until your boss has finished speaking next time, understand?" said Acnologia with a sadistic look on his face. Sue's face went pale and she began sweating intensely. He then put her down and continued to speak. Sue was coughing and gasping for air while clutching her throat and crawled away from him so that she was sitting on one of the chairs.

"While I'll admit that my plan is not the most tasteful, rest assured that you shall be rewarded when I am given what is rightfully mine, so I expect you to be prepared!" he yelled.

**[A/N: Sigh, Ok I'll admit this is not my favourite scene, but I cant skip it]**

"If I may… what exactly do you want us to be prepared for?" asked Boze cautiously, he was sitting next to Sue at the moment trying to help her catch her breath.

"For the death of the King!" yelled Acnologia.

Boze, Sue and Totomaru looked to each other confused, while the rest of their comrades were whispering to each other.

"Huh? Is Lord Igneel sick or something?" asked Boze.

This of course caused all of his comrades to just face-palm themselves, leave it to Boze to be as dumb as a pile of bricks, was what everyone thought.

Acnologia just smirked and walked toward Boze and leaned down so that he was face-to-face with him.

"No you dunce, were going to kill him, and his stupid son" he said.

"But then, wouldn't that mean that Magnolia would be without a King?" asked Totomaru.

"Idiots! Of course there'll be a King!" yelled Acnologia, he then climbed on top of a table in the middle of their hall so that he was towering over everybody.

"But I thought you said that-" "-I shall be King! Stay loyal to me, and you'll never have to worry about money ever again!" said Acnologia as he interrupted Boze's question.

After hearing his announcement the entire hall burst with cheers of excitement.

Sue, Boze and Totomaru were hugging each other and cheering together "Long live the King! Long live the King!" while the rest of their comrades were discussing their excitement with each other.

"Finally, a King we can follow"

"It would be great to not have to worry about money for a change"

"Of course this can only be possible if you follow my orders and comply with the duties I give you, your rewards will be handsome, but I must emphasize that you wont so much as scratch your butts without my say-so!" yelled Acnologia as he pointed all around the hall. Acnologia was slowly releasing his black flames all over his body to show off his power to his subordinates "This is to be the coup of the century, I have planned meticulously and now I shall finally be King! Undisputed and respected by all, seen for the greatness I am. So let me ask you all this; are your fists and ambitions bared!?".

The entire hall yelled in unison "Yes our fists and ambitions are bared! Long live the King!"

Acnologia then began to laugh maniacally and the rest of the mages joined in.

* * *

It was sometime during the late afternoon, Natsu was being guided into the western forests by his uncle; they weren't too deep in the forest, just in the middle of their countries hunting grounds.

Acnologia was a few steps ahead of Natsu and was walking with his hands by his sides while Natsu had his hands behind his head and was looking all around.

"Come along now Natsu, your father has an awesome surprise waiting for you" said Acnologia, drawing Natsu's attention back to him, now he was starting to feel excited.

"Really!? What is it!?" asked Natsu enthusiastically

"If I told you Natsu that would defeat the purpose of the 'surprise' part wouldn't it? Oh look we're at the meeting point already" he said as they approached the clearing.

"Aw come on uncle, if you tell me I'll still act surprised!" said Natsu facing his uncle with a cheeky grin.

"Hahaha, you sure have a knack for misbehaving don't you kid?" said Acnologia with a smirk on his face as he rubbed Natsu's head.

Natsu's face fell into a frown, he wanted to know what his dad was planning, he was hoping for it to be some surprise training or maybe even a super-secret technique.

"Come on uncle, please tell!" said Natsu as he grabbed the hem of his uncles shirt.

Acnologia was beginning to get irritated with Natsu's persistence but he never let it show on his face, instead he had on an amused expression "Absolutely not, this is just between you and your father, you know the father-son sort of… thing" he said as he was waving his hand around. "Well I best go get him"

"Let me come too uncle" said Natsu as he started to follow Acnologia, but he quickly turned around to stop Natsu "No!" his face faltered a bit which surprised Natsu, but he managed to change it back to an amused one almost as fast.

"Ahahaha, no, just wait under this tree" he said as he ushered Natsu toward one of the trees on the edge of the clearing where Natsu reluctantly sat under with his cheeks puffed out.

"We wouldn't want you to end up in another mess like you did with those dark mages now would we?" he said in a slightly condescending tone.

Natsu's face turned sad "You know about that?" he asked while looking at his uncle questioningly.

Acnologia made a mock-sympathetic face at Natsu "Oh my dear Natsu, everybody knows about it" he said.

Natsu hung his head in shame and embarrassment, a slightly depressing aura surrounding him "R-really?" he asked without looking up.

Acnologia nodded his head which Natsu couldn't see "Oh yes, well luckily daddy was there to save you" he said with a smirk.

"Oh and just between us…" he said then looked around to see if anyone else would be listening and whispered into Natsu's ear "…you might want to work on that little roar of yours, hhmm?" he said in a condescending tone while nodding his head to Natsu.

Natsu looked dejected after hearing this, and just stared at the ground as his uncle walked away, but then he remembered his dads 'surprise' for him and perked up.

"Um, hey uncle, will I like my surprise?" he asked cheerfully.

Acnologia stopped in his tracks, at hearing Natsu call him his face became irritated, but quickly changed into a smirk "Natsu, it's to DIE for" he said as he looked at Natsu, then walked away, when he was far enough out of Natsu's earshot he started to laugh maniacally "All of the pawns are moving nicely" he said with an evil smile.

* * *

Meanwhile a little bit away from where Natsu was waiting, a large group of bandits had been led into the forest by Sue, Totomaru and Boze, these bandits had no magical power of their own so getting them to work for Phantom was an easy task. They had asked Acnologia why they just couldn't do it themselves but he told them it would interfere with his plans and then they wouldn't get any money, so they just did what he told them.

"Damn, and here I was hoping I could get another chance at finishing off that damn brat" said Totomaru.

"Shut up, don't even try it, or do you want to live off scraps for the rest of your life?" asked Sue "Just do what you were told".

"But its so unfair, why do these guys get to have all the fun, I could kill him much faster than them" said Totomaru with his hands behind his head.

Sue stopped walking and gave Totomaru a death-glare "You so much as show your face to that kid without Acnologia's permission and he'll fry us, now shut up and wait for his signal!" she said.

Just as she said that one of the tree's next to her were suddenly alight with black flames. She smirked evilly and turned to the bandits "Ok, looks like its time, remember the plan now; all at the same time and aim for the kill" she said sadistically.

The bandits nodded and walked off towards their target, ready to attack.

* * *

Natsu was sitting underneath the tree his uncle left him under, his elbows were resting on his knees while his hands were holding his face, he was pouting and thinking.

"My roar wasn't that small" he muttered.

He looked at the clearing as a breeze blew by _'Grrr… Natsu Dragneel does not mope! He's a man of action!' _he thought to himself. He stood up and ran a little bit into the clearing to give himself some room for what he was about to do.

"Fire Dragon Roar!" he yelled, the flame came, but it was about the size of a small campfire, a tick mark appeared above his eye. _'I have to try again, or else Lucy and Erza will never let me hear the end of it!' _he thought.

He took a deep breath and focused his mind "Fire Dragon… Roar!" this time the flames were much bigger, at least the size of a bon-fire, he smiled to himself when he saw his flames.

But he quickly went into a defensive stance when he heard footsteps approaching him, and he heard A LOT of footsteps.

* * *

**[A/N: Ok, I'll end there for now, WTF with the latest chapter of FT!? Talk about a cliff-hanger, also guys don't be afraid to PM me if I take too long to upload, it will make me try even harder to finish my next chapter ;D]**


	7. Long Live the King

**CHAPTER 7: Long Live the King**

**[A/N: I wish to ask for your forgiveness for taking so long to update this chapter, I was avoiding it like the plague coz I knew it would make me sad to write it, but I put on my big girl pants and wrote it anyway, please try to enjoy]**

* * *

It was all happening very fast, but thanks to Natsu's advanced hearing he was able to anticipate where his attackers were coming from. There were about 100 or so bandits heading in his way, they were running at full speed and it seemed like they were out for blood, but Natsu wasn't worried, he could handle himself against a bunch of magic-less goons.

Natsu backed away further into the clearing so that he could have a full view of his attackers and to prevent himself from being cornered. When he saw the first few thugs coming out he didn't hesitate to throw the first punch.

"Fire-dragon Iron-fist!" he yelled as he threw his punch.

He looked at the guy he hit with a smirk on his face but that instantly fell when he saw that he didn't even manage to scratch the guy.

"W-w-what the heck?!" he yelled as he quickly backed away to dodge the blade that the guy swung at him.

"Hahahahaha, surprised kid!? This is anti-magic armour, your little fire attacks won't work on us!" he yelled.

Natsu's eyes went wide, he didn't even know that kind of stuff existed, the only armour he knew about were the kinds that Erza wore, but he wasn't about to let this guy make him look weak, _'I'll just have to beat em up with my bare fists!' _he thought.

He punched both his fists together and wore a smirk on his face "Bring it on ya bunch of thugs, I'm all fired up now!" he yelled as he gave them the well-known bring-it-on gesture.

* * *

Meanwhile, a few meters away from Natsu's position…

"Is something wrong sire?" asked Erza as she was patrolling the forest with King Igneel, she noticed he was looking around and sniffing the air now.

"I'm not sure, but I don't like what I smell right now, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth" said Igneel.

Suddenly he heard a rustling of trees nearby, he recognized the scent so he didn't react, but Erza went into a defensive stance, Igneel raised his hand in front of her to know that it was fine and she hesitantly put her sword back in its sheath.

Just then Acnologia emerged, and it looked like he had been running as his face was flushed and he was panting.

"Igneel, thank God I picked up your scent nearby!" he said.

"What seems to be the problem brother?" asked Igneel, he had never seen his brother in such a panic before.

"B-bandits… in the forest… Natsu was playing out there…" he said while panting.

Immediately Igneel went into a slight panic, but he calmed down as he knew his son could take care of a few magic-less thugs.

"… They have strange armour that nullifies any magic attacks… I-I… when I saw this I ran to find you immediately… I-I don't know how long he can hold out… there were at least 100 of them…" he said.

Igneel's eyes widened, Natsu was in danger, there's no way he can win with the odds stacked this high against him like this.

"That idiot, getting into fights without thinking again!" yelled Erza.

She tried to act mad, but Igneel could see the worry in her eyes.

"Acnologia lets go!" he yelled as he ran deeper into the forest to find his son.

"Right!" he said. _'Hehehe, everything is moving splendidly, all I have to do is take care of little Miss Scarlet to ensure my plan works' _he thought.

* * *

Natsu was panting heavily, his left eye was swollen and he had a few scratches on his arms and chest. _'Damn it! These guys are tougher than I thought they'd be' _he thought.

"Aaaaaaarrrrggggghhhh! I won't lose, I am the great Igneels' son!" he yelled angrily as he started charging for one of the armoured thugs.

"Just give it up kid, there's no way your tiny fists can penetrate our armour!" yelled one of the bandits.

Natsu still continued to charge and punched a guy in the ribs, surprisingly the guy felt the hit and started coughing from the blow.

"W-what the-"

"Armour tends to be weaker on the sides and around the neck, guess all those fights with Erza paid off" said Natsu with a smirk.

"You got in a lucky shot kid, but you wont be smiling for long, get em boys!" yelled the guy as he tried to recover from Natsu's punch, _'Shit, I think that kid actually broke my rib!' _he thought.

"Oh crap, I can't fight all these guys at once with no magic" said Natsu as he tried to avoid the swords being swung at him, he was doing pretty well until a guy managed to get behind him and kicked him in his back.

"Gah!" he yelled as he flung forward and his face smashed into the ground. He turned around to try and block any frontal attacks when he saw a sword swinging down at his head.

Just before it hit his head he managed to pull off a sword grab at the last second, suffice to say he and the bandit were a little surprised he managed to pull that off.

'_Guess I should thank Erza for all those drills with that bamboo sword of hers… if they didn't hurt so much anyway' _thought Natsu.

But the bandit was still pushing the sword down onto Natsu and he couldn't hold it up for much longer. He was starting to panic a little, when suddenly the man was punched by an unknown guy and flew backwards.

"How dare you try and touch my son!" the man yelled.

Natsu's face brightened and he couldn't stop the grin from forming on his face.

"Dad!" he yelled as he saw his fathers face.

"Natsu, are you alright?" Igneel asked as he picked his son up form the floor.

"Tch, as if these losers could hurt me" he answered while he rubbed the blood off his mouth as subtly as he could. Igneel saw this though.

"Sire!"

Igneel and Natsu turned to the voice and saw Erza running towards them with Acnologia slightly behind.

"Erza, help me fight these guys, Natsu I need you to go back to the palace with your uncle!" yelled Igneel.

Natsu was stubborn though, _'That's no fair, if Erza gets to fight then so do I!' _he thought.

"No way dad, I can still fight!" he yelled.

"Natsu!" yelled Igneel.

Natsu flinched at the tone of his dad's voice, he looked up to see his fathers face and noticed the serious look on his face. He had never seen his dad like that before.

"I wasn't asking, please just listen to me" he said in a low voice.

Natsu felt torn, he wanted to help his dad fight, but at the same time he knew he should listen to his father. His fists were clenched so tight that his knuckles turned white and he was gritting his teeth together.

"Go now Natsu!" yelled Igneel as he and Erza started attacking the bandits.

"Come on boy, lets get moving" said Acnologia as he grabbed Natsu's shoulder.

Natsu growled and ran off into the forest, "You better kick their asses!" he yelled as he ran off.

Igneel and Erza smiled a little, they knew that was Natsu's way of worrying about them.

"Alright Erza, you heard the brat" said Igneel with a grin.

"Yes sir!" she yelled as she continued to fight, three bandits at a time. _'They may be impervious to magical attacks, but my swords don't rely on magic' _she thought as she continued to strike them down with her double-blade attack.

Igneel was punching the bandits down because his fire-magic would be useless against their armour, but he had a few tricks up his sleeve.

"Dragon-scales!" he yelled.

In a few seconds his body was covered with red scales that served as a kind of armour for him. When a bandit started swinging his sword at him it shattered against his now scaly skin.

The bandit looked terrified and started shaking where he stood while Igneel showed off a feral grin.

"Oops, looks like your sword broke, wanna try fighting with your bare hands instead?" he asked with an animalistic glint in his eyes.

The bandit practically peed his pants as he ran away terrified.

Igneel looked over the amount of bandits still standing and noticed most of them knocked out on the floor behind Erza. He was impressed as well as a little frightened of the girl. _'No wonder Natsu is so terrified of her' _he thought.

Counting the guys Natsu managed to defeat, plus the ones he and Erza had beaten, there were roughly 30 bandits left. He was proud that Natsu managed to hold his own so long, taking out 10 armoured full-grown men without magic at such a young age was nothing if not amazing.

"Ok, now who's next?!" he asked as he turned to look at the rest of the bandits.

* * *

Natsu was running through the forest, his uncle trailing behind him, he was angry and frustrated. He wanted to fight alongside his father and show him how skilled he was, but he wasn't even giving him a chance, he knew his dad was worried about him, but he could still fight.

Then he suddenly stopped running, he noticed that his uncles scent had disappeared, which wasn't possible because he would at least have a feint smell of it if he was far away, and he couldn't be that far.

He started looking around frantically for any sign of his uncle, and he thought that maybe his uncle had gone back to help his dad fight.

"Grrrr, I can't take it anymore! I'm fighting whether he wants me to or not!" he yelled.

He started running back to where his father and Erza were fighting, burning with the need for a fight.

But somewhere in the shadows a dark figure was smirking evilly.

'_Perfect…'_

Igneel and Erza had managed to cut down their numbers to just 15 men, but they were getting fatigued; Erza had used up a lot of magical energy summoning her swords but was still fighting with all her might.

"Just a few mo-" Erza's speech was halted when she was suddenly knocked out by a blow to the back of her neck.

Igneel glanced over at Erza and saw her passed out on the floor, he didn't see who had knocked her out but he could tell that she was still alive.

He continued to fight until only 5 men were left standing, he removed his dragon scales to try and conserve some magical energy so he could no longer risk any swords hitting him directly.

"Igneel"

He turned his head slightly and saw hid brother approaching him "Acnologia, where is Natsu?!" he asked, he thought he told him to stay with Natsu and go back to the palace.

"He's just fine brother, no need to panic" he said in a cool tone "He's on his way there right now, I told him I'd come back to check on you".

Igneel let out a relieved sigh and turned his back to his brother to continue to fight the last of the bandits "Well thanks then, I could use some help with these last few guys" he said.

Suddenly a thought had struck Igneel, how had he not picked up his brothers scent, and why couldn't he smell it now when he was so close. He could however smell the scent of his son and it was getting closer.

He turned to look at his brother only to find that he was right behind him.

Suddenly he had felt something cold lodged in his chest and immense pain radiating throughout his entire body.

He looked down at his chest and saw a small blade sticking inside it, following the blade to the hilt he saw the hands that were holding the blade and looked up to find its face.

"Ac…nolo…gia …what…" he couldn't speak anymore as he started coughing up blood; he grabbed onto his brothers hand and tried to pry the blade from his chest.

Acnologia leaned into his brother and started to whisper something into his ear "Long live the King…" he said, and he pulled the blade out, letting Igneel fall on his knees to the floor.

Igneel clutched at the hole in his chest, he was bleeding out and wouldn't be able to stop it, trying to burn the wound so close to his heart would kill him instantly, and he didn't have the energy to move either.

He couldn't believe what had just happened; his own brother had stabbed him, why? Would he try to do the same to Natsu or Erza? He tried to get up but he could no longer feel his legs, his vision was slowly blurring, he fell onto the ground, realizing he was breathing his last breaths.

The last thing he thought before he fell into eternal sleep; was that he hoped his son was safe, then everything went dark.

* * *

Natsu smelt blood, lots of it, but when he recognized the scent that went with it he started running even faster, _'No way. No way, dad's fine, it's probably just a scratch'_ he thought as he ran back to his father.

He saw the open field where the bandits had attacked him and started running even faster.

He scanned over the lumps of people passed out on the floor and tried to narrow his senses onto his dads' scent.

"Dad!" he yelled, cupping his hands around his mouth to make his voice louder.

He heard movement to his left and turned his head quickly, almost giving himself whiplash "Dad?"

But it was just a bandit rustling in his unconscious state leaving him disappointed.

But then he suddenly noticed a bunch of red hair on the ground, and his fathers' scent was in that direction.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and started walking towards the red hair, his dads' scent getting stronger as he got closer, but it was accompanied by the scent of fresh blood as well.

Natsu was sweating nervously, struggling to find air for his lungs, his legs felt weak but he kept on moving, he had to know if that was who he hoped it wasn't.

Natsu could now see the man completely; he was lying on the ground on his chest, eyes closed, a small trail of blood coming from the mans lips.

He looked like he was sleeping, but Natsu could tell that the man could no longer breath.

He felt tears forming at the corners of his eyes, he couldn't breath at all.

He walked right up to the man on the ground and fell to his knees in front of the mans face.

"Dad?" he said softly, _'He's probably just tired from all the fighting just now and taking a nap…' _he thought _'We better get home, or else mom will yell at us again'_.

"Dad… come on you better get up…" he said as he started shaking his fathers shoulders softly, noticing that his dad didn't even flinch.

Tears started falling slowly down Natsu's cheeks as he continued to try and wake his father.

"Come on dad… moms' gonna flip… we gotta… go home" his voice started cracking and he tried to suppress his tears as much as he possibly could.

He couldn't see his dad flinch like he usually would have at the mention of his mother being angry, _'Maybe dad got sick or sumthin while fighting, I need to call somebody…' _he thought, trying desperately to stay positive.

He got up from where he was sitting and started looking around frantically for any sign of help.

"Hey… somebody help!" he yelled, he heard no response.

"Please, anybody!" he was clenching his fists in frustration, why wasn't he being heard.

"Help him… please…" he could no longer hold back his tears when he finally realized that there was no help coming for them.

He turned to look at his father's body, the man he would always go to when he was happy or sad, the man who would yell at him whenever he did something stupid, the man who trained him in magic for hours in a day… and the man he deeply cared about.

He walked slowly towards his father, feeling so helpless and alone. He fell to his knees by his father's side, and hugged his body tight, praying for the warmth he used to feel from him to come back.

He didn't make a sound except for a few sniffles. He didn't know what to do, all he could do was hold onto his father and cry for his missing warmth.

"Natsu…"

He turned his head slowly to look at whoever had called him, and saw his uncle standing behind him with a disappointed look on his face and his hands behind his back "… what have you done?" he asked in a low voice.

Natsu couldn't think, was it his fault, did his practicing lure those bandits towards him, did he provoke them to attack him?

"T-the bandits… a-and so many… he… he tr-tried to s-save me… i-it was an accident… I d-didn't th-think this would happen…" he tried to say while sniffling.

He got up slowly and trudged toward his uncle, seeking any form of comfort he could find.

"Of course, you never meant to hurt anyone, no-one really wants these things to happen…" he said as he pulled Natsu in for a hug.

Natsu wrapped his arms around his uncle and pulled on his jacket while crying into it.

"… but the King is dead…" Natsu's eyes flew open in realization and he looked up at his uncle "… and if it weren't for you he would still be alive."

Natsu looked at the floor, _'He's right, if I had just kept quiet and sat still, the bandits wouldn't have come, he wouldn't have needed to save me, he'd still be alive, its all my fault' _he thought.

**[A/N: ok can I just say that a guy has to be a really sick bastard to say this kind of thing to a child, ok that's my rant, continue]**

"Oh my, what would your mother have to say about this?" he said in a nervous tone.

Natsu cringed, he could already imagine his mother crying her eyes out, how would she look at him when she found out that it was his fault…how would Lucy react, and the rest of the Kingdom? His tears still continued to fall, but they were lessening slightly.

"What can I do?" he asked helplessly, looking to his uncle for any sign of help.

"Run away Natsu"

Natsu backed away from his uncle and looked at his full form, he could see the seriousness in his eyes, and he turned to look at his fathers' body and then looked back to his uncle.

"Run away and never return" he said in a voice coated in fake worry.

Natsu took one last look at his father before dashing off into the deeper forest, running as far away from the Kingdom as he could.

* * *

Acnologia watched Natsu run _'If only those damn bandits managed to kill you, but my stupid brother managed to defeat them all, along with young Scarlet' _he thought.

Suddenly three figures appeared behind him, each with their own sadistic grin, they remembered what Acnologia said they could do if the bandits failed to kill Natsu.

Acnologia folded his arms across his chest and looked at Natsu's fleeting figure.

"Kill him"

* * *

**[A/N: OMFG, I was avoiding this chapter for the longest time, I really hated it, I cried while writing this. Anywho, please review and tell me what you think, did you like how I changed around the stampede scene, did you hate it, let me know]**


	8. Who are you?

**CHAPTER 8: Who are you?**

**[A/N: Hey guys, hope you aren't mad at me that I had Igneel killed, but I had to do it for the story to progress, anyway here's the next chapter and… ooh whats this? Are those some new characters I see? ;3]**

* * *

Natsu ran. He was running like his life depended on it, he couldn't live with what he had done.

Faces were passing through his mind as he ran, he saw his mother; her smile her angry face and her happy face, then he imagined the look on her face when she found out that he had killed his dad, just the thought made him want to crawl into a hole and die, he couldn't even put into words the look on her face.

The look on the faces of the servants in his house, the people of the kingdom, the look on his best friends face… Lucy, her face would probably devastate him. Not to mention how his newly adopted sister would act around him.

All these images pushed him to run faster, to get as far away from the kingdom as he could.

'_I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I didn't mean to' _he thought.

He could no longer shed any tears, he had to suck it up or else he wouldn't be able to run properly.

"Hehehehe, look who we found~~" he heard a woman say.

Natsu stopped running and looked around; he was deep inside the outer forest now, far away from his kingdoms boarders, as he turned around he saw three silhouettes approaching him. As they got closer Natsu started to recognize their scents, and eventually he could see their faces _'Shit, it's those dark mages, I gotta run faster' _he thought.

He wasn't in the mood for a fight nor did he have the energy for one, and he wasn't stupid, he knew that even if he could fight he wouldn't be able to take them down, especially with that fire wizard there.

He turned back around and started running again, there was no way he was going to let himself get caught by those thugs, they would definitely try to kill him now.

"Don't think I'll let you get away so easily, you ruined my face you little brat!" he heard the woman yell.

He could hear them running after him, and they were slowly catching up. He kept zipping passed trees and ducking under branches. He didn't know anything about the terrain so he was running blind, with only his nose and hearing to guide him.

He was so busy looking forward that he didn't notice that he was about to run down a steep hill, he lost his footing and started rolling down the hill, his face was getting scratched as he rolled down.

Once he reached the bottom he took a deep breath and tried to focus his vision, that fall had knocked the wind out of him. He slowly got up and tried to steady himself.

"There he is! Boze fire a sound wave at him quick!" yelled the woman as she pointed at Natsu.

By a small miracle he managed to dodge the attack and continued to run ahead, his pursuers following and gradually catching up.

Suddenly his ears picked up the sound of rushing water, then he remembered something his father told him.

"_One day when you're older I'll take you outside the boarder; if you go deep enough into the forest you'll see a huge waterfall! I wanted to dive down and check out the bottom but little Miss Scarlet wouldn't let me" _

He would have smiled at the memory, remembering his fathers puffed out cheeks, like a kid who got scolded, but right now he was focused on finding a way to stay alive.

He ran in the direction of the rushing water, hoping it wasn't too far away.

"Sue, I think he's headed for the falls!" yelled one of the guys who were chasing him.

"Ha, we've got him now boys!" yelled Sue.

He slowed down when he could no longer see anymore trees, instead all he could see was a huge lake and a cliff with water gushing under it.

'_Dad wasn't kidding, it's a pretty big waterfall…' _he thought as he looked down the cliff, he was almost at its edge when he heard the rustling of leaves behind him, he turned his head and saw the three wizards who had been chasing after him, they were a little out of breath but their evil smirks were very evident on their faces.

"You got nowhere to run now little prince" said Sue smugly.

"Finally I get to beat the life outta you" said Boze as he slammed his fist into his palm.

Totomaru was just standing there and staring at Natsu maliciously.

Natsu didn't even bother turning fully to face them, he refused to let dark mages kill him, he had already decided what he was going to do when he started running for the falls.

He started to inch closer to the edge of the cliff taking in more of the view of the waterfall, suffice to say it did not look safe in the slightest.

'_No wonder Erza never let dad jump… it looks like the water will rip you to shreds, and I cant even see the bottom' _he thought.

But he refused to back down now, he couldn't back down now.

"Kid… just what the hell ya think your doin?" said Sue, she noticed he was getting dangerously close to the edge of the cliff, her eyes widened in realization.

'_Holy shit, is this kid actually gonna jump!?' _she thought.

"Guys grab him quick, he's gonna jump!" she yelled, she wasn't about to let her prey get away from her like this, not before she got her revenge.

Totomaru and Boze ran for Natsu and tried to grab him, but they were 1 second too late.

Natsu closed his eyes and made the leap over the edge of the cliff and started to fall.

Sue, Boze and Totomaru paled while their mouths hung open, they were gonna be in deep shit if they let the kid get away.

They ran to the edge of the cliff to look down the bottom, trying to see if they could catch a glimpse of him somewhere at the bottom.

Boze saw red in the river down below, the princes shirt, he pointed at the blob he saw to get his friends attention.

"There he is!" he said.

Sue saw the red and looked a little closer and could make out the rest of the body.

"Well don't just stand here, jump on down and get him!" she yelled as she pointed down below.

Boze and Tototmaru paled and stepped back "Are you nuts, we don't want to die, besides he looks half-dead already!" yelled Totomaru, he had no interest n dying anytime soon.

"Yeah he's as good as dead out there anyway!" yelled Boze.

Sue punched them both on the head, she was seething with rage.

"You idiots! If Acnologia knew we let him get away he'll kill us, or find a way to do something even worse!" she yelled.

"So we just tell him we got the kid and dumped the body somewhere, he won't ask any questions then!" yelled Boze as he held the spot on his head where Sue had hit him.

"And besides if he ever tries to show his face around here again we'll just kill him then" said Totomaru.

Sue didn't want to risk it, but it was their only option at the time, that or death at least.

"Fine, but if he finds out I'm totally tellin' him it was all your idea" she said as she pointed to them angrily.

Boze and Totomaru just shrugged and started dragging Sue away, until she ran to the edge of the cliff and started shouting.

"If you ever show your face in this Kingdom again we'll kill ya, ya damn brat!"

* * *

It had been several hours since the news of King Igneel and Price Natsu's death had reached the citizens ears, and all the people were outside the Kingdom in mourning.

Grandine felt broken, her husband and son were always reckless, but it had never gotten them into serious trouble. She held on tightly to her daughter Wendy; the only family she had left, even if she wasn't her real daughter she didn't care. She was in the waiting room just before the balcony along with Acnologia, Erza, and Lucy with her family.

Lucy was in her mothers arms crying her heart out and screaming that it wasn't true that they had died, her mother was crying as well for the loss of her dear friend Igneel. Lucy's father was on the brink of tears as well but refused to cry in order to remain strong for his family in their heartbreak.

Erza had tears running down her cheeks but kept a straight face, she blamed herself for not being strong enough when she was fighting, but refused to dwell on it. She found it a little too strange that the men she was fighting were so well prepared for them; like they had expected magic users to be in that part of the forest, but that wasn't the only thing she was concerned about...

_FLASHBACK…_

When she woke up she saw all the bandits either dead or unconscious and a distraught Acnologia beside the Kings body, she had immediately asked what happened and where Natsu was, he told her that one of the bandits was a mage and he saw him blast Natsu to pieces, he said that Igneel had snapped and charged at the mage and they ended up killing each other.

Erza was in shock, she screamed at the sky and kept yelling that it was her fault and that she was sorry for not being stronger.

She had carried the Kings body to the palace walking behind Acnologia feeling absolutely dead inside.

Then Acnologia said something that startled her.

"Don't fret Miss Titania, how could you have expected receiving a blow from the back, no-one will blame you" he said.

Erza's eyes widened suddenly but then quickly went back to normal _'How did he know that I got knocked out from a blow to the back, all I said was that I was taken by surprise and was rendered unconscious, just what the hell is going on here?" _she thought.

_PRESENT TIME…_

Erza glanced at Acnologia cautiously, his face was solemn, but his eyes were cold, red like blood. She would be very weary of him from now on, there was something about him that she didn't trust; he was definitely hiding something.

Acnologia took a breath and made his way to the balcony to speak to the people, offer them 'comforting words' in their time of despair.

Though his outward appearance seemed sad his inner feelings were that of pure joy and accomplishment.

Finally he will be in his rightful place as King, and he would rule the Kingdom his way.

"My fair people of the Kingdom of Magnolia, I appear to you in our time of mourning to bring news!" he yelled out to the people.

They were all holding candles in remembrance of their fallen King and prince, hoping to shed some light on their saddened hearts. Although it was dark they could see Acnologia easily.

"Igneel's death will always be heavy in our hearts, but to lose young prince Natsu who had barely even begun to live, it is a loss that will forever remain in our thoughts…"

He left a moment of silence for the people to absorb what he was saying before he continued.

"…So it is with a heavy heart that I; Acnologia, assume the throne. Fret not my people; this shall be the dawning of a new era for the people of Magnolia. I shall bring salvation in our time of need!"

The Kingdoms people looked to each other sadly, but knew that they had to be strong now, for the sake of their Kingdom.

"Hail Acnologia!" yelled the people as loud as they could through their tears.

Acnologia was ecstatic, now he could transform the Kingdom in his image, and no-one would be able to stop him.

* * *

At the edge of the palace sat a drunken Makarov, watching Acnologia's speech from a distance. He held a beer mug in his hands and was drowning his thoughts.

"Huu~ Igneel; my old friend, and poor Natsu… what are we gonna do now?"

He asked looking up at the sky.

He began walking home, holding his walking stick to try and balance out his dizziness from the alcohol. Once he made it there he sat at his desk and grabbed a quill to write down the days events, his vision was blurry and he tried to focus on keeping his writing legible, and trying to focus on stopping his tears that threatened to fall.

'_It is a sad day indeed, Igneel; my dear friend was slain in battle today, along with his only son; Natsu. To say that this came as a shock would be a gross understatement, the entire Kingdom is in mourning and dear Grandine's heart is broken._

_Acnologia has appeared to assume the throne; which I'm sure is quite convenient for him, there's no telling what will become of the Kingdom now._

_Though I am deeply sad over my old friends' death, Natsu's weighs heavier in my heart; the boy was only seven and quite a cheerful child, reckless at times but he had good morals, he would have had a wonderful life ahead of him. I pray that they find peace in the stars, and watch over us…'_

Makarov closed his book and wiped his eyes clear of his tears; he found it too hard to believe that Natsu was gone.

He raised his hand in the air and tried to feel for any traces left of his magic energy…

…but much to his dismay, he couldn't find anything.

* * *

"Come on ice-freak I'm starving over here, you gonna help me fish or what!?" yelled a young black-haired boy.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch rivet-face I'm coming, I just gotta find my pants!" yelled another young raven-haired boy.

"Dude, how do you not know when you take off your own clothes? That's just friggen weird" said the black-haired boy.

"Oh shut up Gajeel, at least I don't eat metal like you, that's just gross!" yelled the raven-haired boy.

"Hey don't insult my diet Gray, you've never even tried it!" yelled Gajeel.

"I don't have to try it to know it's gross, its common sense!" yelled Gray.

These two young boys were walking in the forest and headed towards the lake to grab some food, though they fought a lot these boys are actually good friends and would do anything to help each other out.

"Oh yeah you wanna know what I think is gross!? Why don't ya-"

Gajeel stopped mid-sentence when he picked up a strange scent.

_*sniff* *sniff*_

"You smell something Gajeel?" asked Gray. He knew never to question his friends nose.

"Yeah, but I never smelled something like this before _*sniff* *sniff*, _smells like its comin from the lake somewhere" he said.

"Well then lets check it out, could be some tourists we could scam" said Gray with a smirk, and he started running to the lake.

Gajeel took one more whiff and started running after Gray, he couldn't place the scent but it felt very familiar to him, like he was somehow similar to whoever he smelled.

"Hey Gajeel, you better come quick!"

Gray's yelling snapped Gajeel out of his thoughts and he ran faster to catch up to Gray.

What he saw shocked him; a boy around their age with pink hair, was passed out by the bed of the lake, his clothes were torn and his body was covered in scratches.

"Holy crap this kid's hurt pretty badly, hey can you hear me? Wake up kid!" yelled Gray as he tried to wake up the boy.

"Careful Gray, you might hurt him, lets just take him back to the hide-out, we at least have some medical supplies in there for him" said Gajeel.

"Okay, help me carry him" said Gray as he picked up one arm of the boy.

"Geez, what a pain" said Gajeel as he picked up the other arm.

They began walking to their secret hide-out deep in the forest; hopefully the kid would be okay when they fixed him up.

Gray looked down at the boy worriedly, he noticed that he had a sad look on his face and started wondering where he had come from.

"Man, just who the heck are you kid?"

* * *

**[A/N: Whew~ there we go next chapter finally up, I cant make this story exactly like the Lion King or else that would be too boring, but I still want to stay as close to the original script as I can while still having the characters original personalities. PLEASE LEAVE ME SOME REVIEWS, I REALLY APPRECIATE THEM :3]**


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